


all the kingdom lights shine just for me and you

by hypocorism



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fairy Tale, Fairy Tale Retellings, Fantasy, Heteronormativity, M/M, References galore, Temporary Character Death, a la sleeping beauty, both cara/taylor and ziam are fairly background, mild homophobia, mostly sleeping beauty and princess and the pea but lots of others, this fic is dedicated to john dowland who was Definitely Not a spy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-19
Updated: 2014-12-19
Packaged: 2018-03-02 06:44:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 49,443
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2803250
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hypocorism/pseuds/hypocorism
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“<i>I</i> can help the baby, for I have not yet given my gift.” Caroline smiles and waves as the audience cheers appreciatively. “Although, tragically, I cannot reverse the work of such a powerful opponent, I can mediate the effects. Prince Harry will not die, but will fall into a deep and peaceful sleep. From this slumber, he can only be awoken by a kiss from his true love! Once she is found, his safety will be ensured!” Happy sighs all around.</p><p>“Thank you, good fairy Caroline,” the king says politely. “We are in your debt.” She beams and the other three fairies look mildly annoyed.</p><p>“I knew she was full of it when she said she ‘couldn’t think of a good gift,’” one of them whispers to the other two. “<i>I</i> was supposed to go last!”</p>
            </blockquote>





	all the kingdom lights shine just for me and you

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Angel669](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Angel669/gifts).



> Thank you SO MUCH to my amazing betas/hand holders Anna-Rose (witchpresidentoftheteatray) and Pixie (specklesocks)!! Also, a big thank you to everyone in my life who put up with me whining about this for three months, and to my beloved sister/brainstorm partner. Thank you to the mods for organizing this, to everyone who participated, and to YOU for reading this xoxo.
> 
> A quick clarification about the 'verse: This is all super made up. Some relationships and ages are slightly different, most notably Liam and Zayn are older than the other three boys and all of Louis' siblings are older/closer in age (Louis is 20, Lottie is 17, Fizzy is 16, Phoebe and Daisy are 10, and Ernest and Doris are 5). This should be fairly clear in context, but just in case!
> 
> EDIT: Am I very clueless or can I not add links here? Anyway, updated to add the tumblrs of my betas! If you would like to chat or cry about witch familiars, my tumblr is spaceprincessjupiter!

The kingdom of Arixia is, more or less, average. It has seen its fair share of evil queens, cruel stepmothers, conniving eldest sons, and poisoned fruits, but never more than one or two a generation. It’s not a terribly exciting place to live; there is a slightly pesky dragon infestation and the occasional minor flood, but overall, life is peaceful.

Unfortunately, that kind of calm almost invariably attracts a storm. In this case, it’s the High Sorceress and Mistress of Malignancy (Emmaline to her friends and minions) deciding to take up residence. Arixia has been without an evil witch for about forty years, but everyone more or less remembers the drill. Show up, curse a few royals, give the fairies something to do with their time, be defeated after a dramatic struggle to entertain the whole kingdom, move on. The royal christening following the High Sorceress and Mistress of Malignancy’s arrival is one of the most highly anticipated and attended events in living memory. The reception hall of the castle is packed; even the nobility section is standing room only. Fortunately for Arixia’s hospitality staff, no one is complaining. Everyone, from the butcher’s youngest son to the Duke of Hollina, is far too excited.

The early part of the christening goes off without a hitch: everyone processes in and gives their gifts, the king and queen express their (somewhat apprehensive) gratitude, and the first three of the four fairies in attendance give their gifts. As the fourth fairy approaches the sleeping baby, the hall perks up. She takes her time, meandering down the aisle and waving to friends and acquaintances. Sure enough, just as the last fairy, Caroline, is leaning over the cradle, a huge green plume of smoke bursts out of the center of the hall. Everyone gasps appreciatively as a figure comes into view. She’s dressed head to toe in sparkly red-violet and has, not one, but two ravens perched on her shoulders.

“I,” dramatic pause, “am the High Sorceress and Mistress of Malignancy, Emmaline! Cower before me, mortals!” She looks pleased enough with the exclamations of mild horror to continue her speech. “I have arrived to curse this baby!” The queen nervously approaches, resigned but not terribly pleased. Caroline shoots her a subtle thumbs up from behind the High Sorceress and Mistress of Malignancy.

“But Emmaline,” the queen pauses, “erm, High Sorceress and Mistress of Malignancy, why must you destroy our happy day?”

“Because,” the sorceress stops and furrows a brow.

“You didn’t receive an invitation to the christening,” Caroline stage whispers.

“We weren’t sure of the address,” the king mutters.

“Yes! I was _snubbed_. Therefore, I must release my wrath on this baby!” After the slight hitch, she seems to be warming to the role. “He has been blessed with adorable dimples, the ability to speak to birds, and a wonderful singing voice, and now he will be _cursed_! Although he will indeed grow in grace and beauty, charming all who meet him, his life will be tragically cut short! Before the sun sets on the evening of his eighteenth birthday, he will prick his finger on the stem of a rose and die!” Emmaline cackles as the onlookers nod approvingly.

“The flower is a nice touch,” someone mutters. “Flair for originality.”

Having completed her duty, Emmaline attempts to disappear. She briefly reappears toward the back of the hall, but covers nicely with a well-timed point-and-laugh.

“Can anyone help my poor child?” the queen says, eager to proceed to the point of the morning where her beloved child is no longer fated to die. Caroline looks mildly irritated at her thunder being stolen, but steps up nevertheless.

“ _I_ can help the baby, for I have not yet given my gift.” Caroline smiles and waves as the audience cheers appreciatively. “Although, tragically, I cannot reverse the work of such a powerful opponent, I can mediate the effects. Prince Harry will not die, but will fall into a deep and peaceful sleep. From this slumber, he can only be awoken by a kiss from his true love! Once she is found, his safety will be ensured!” Happy sighs all around.

“Thank you, good fairy Caroline,” the king says politely. “We are in your debt.” She beams and the other three fairies look mildly annoyed.

“I knew she was full of it when she said she ‘couldn’t think of a good gift,’” one of them whispers to the other two. “ _I_ was supposed to go last!”

“I think you will all understand if we end the christening early. We need some time to process,” the queen says, rising to her feet. “Our staff will be distributing some small tokens of our appreciation for your attendance. Please pick them up at the door.” With her duty completed, she scoops up her son and exits, leaving the King, Robin, behind to field traffic.

\---

Queen Anne knows, logically, that this kind of thing happens all the time. All this really means is that her baby is practically guaranteed a love match, which is obviously a positive thing. It’s just, knowing that the princess in the next kingdom over met her husband through a curse is not particularly comforting when it’s _her_ baby boy whose life is at stake. She pulls Harry closer to her and he sighs happily and nuzzles into her neck.

The door bursts open, admitting a very loud Princess Gemma trailing a beleaguered nanny.

“Mummy, are you done? Can I see the baby now? Is he all chrissed?”

“Of course you can, Gems. But you need to be a little quieter, okay? He’s sleeping.”

“He does that a lot,” Gemma whispers loudly.

“So did you when you were his age,” Anne says, smiling down at her daughter. “You can go ahead and take a break, I’ll watch them for the next few hours,” she adds to the nanny.

“Bye Nanny Grace!” Gemma yells, waving. Nanny Grace chuckles and waves back. “I made him a song,” Gemma adds, turning to look back at her new brother. “Well, nanny helped but it was mostly me.”

“Let’s hear it, but remember, quietly.” Gemma nods, and then starts to sing softly.

“Tiny baby brother, I love you a whole lot! When you get big we can share my toys and I will teach you how to trot! Nanny taught me that word it means walk kind of but it rhymes.” Gemma is slightly overwhelmed by the reaction to her song when Anne bursts into tears. Fortunately, Robin arrives just as Harry wakes up and starts crying too. He picks up Harry and starts bouncing him gently, then pulls out a handkerchief and hands it to Anne.

“What’s going on in here?”

“Gemma wrote such a nice song for her brother.”

“I’m sorry I made you cry, mommy,” Gemma wails, bursting into tears as well.

“No, sweetie,” Anne wipes her eyes and takes a deep breath. “You didn’t make me cry. I was just very happy that you’re being such a good big sister.”

“And that made you cry?” Gemma is still sniffling, but the tears have mostly been replaced by curiosity.

“They were happy tears,” Anne lies.

“Okay,” Gemma says dubiously.

“Why don’t you go grab some toys from your box, sweetie? Let me and mommy put baby back to sleep,” Robin says. Gemma grins, tears forgotten, and dashes off.

“I’m sorry,” Anne says softly, “I just...”

“No, don’t apologize. This day has been overwhelming.”

“I know he’s going to be fine. It’s just, what if he isn’t? What if he never meets the one and then he’s just cursed forever?”

“We’ll find her,” Robin says seriously. “No matter what, we’ll find the girl Harry is meant to be with.”

\---

By the time Prince Harry Styles is sixteen, he has learned precisely how stressful it is to have an entire kingdom invested in your love life.

It started when he was barely old enough to understand what was happening. His parents set him up on a regular schedule of rotating playdates with the daughters of royalty and nobility from Arixia and the surrounding kingdoms. Harry mostly found these much less entertaining than playing by himself. The girls all just sit there and barely talk to him, wordlessly agreeing to everything he says. When Harry is much older, he realizes that their parents must have told them to do this, in the hopes that their daughters would make a good impression on the king and queen, but at the time it’s just incredibly frustrating.

When Harry is six, he has a very brief but highly enjoyable month playing with a girl named Perrie. She isn’t at all intimidated by his title or cowed by the fact that they’re being constantly watched. They actually have _fun_ , sliding down the staircase banisters and giving their nannies the slip to sneak out and pet the gamekeeper’s dogs. It doesn’t last very long. They are playing tag outside after escaping one day when Harry’s nanny finds them. She turns white and scoops Harry up.

“You are _not allowed_ in the gardens, your highness! You know this!”

“Why?” Perrie says, looking up at them in confusion. Nanny purses her lips.

“It’s not safe. You don’t want the curse to come into effect early, do you? What if you were pricked by a thorn out here? How do you think your poor mother would feel?”

“I’m sorry,” Harry says, trying not to cry. He hates being scolded, especially when it’s for upsetting his mother. Nanny ignores him, glaring at Perrie one more time before taking Harry and going indoors.

Harry tries to be very good in the following week. Queen Anne, frightened by the way he so blatantly disregarded the rules designed to protect him, doesn’t even allow Harry to leave the residential wing of the palace. The queen halves her duties for the week so she can spend more time with Harry, but doesn’t answer him when he asks when Perrie can come play again. Nanny finally tells him that Perrie has been sent back home and won’t be returning to the palace.

After the individual playdates turn out to be a colossal failure, Anne and Robin start allowing Harry to attend the local nobility playgroup in the hopes that he will meet someone there. It’s made up of the children from families whose seats are far enough away that they come to stay at or around the palace while court is in session. While all of them can easily afford to hire their own tutors, it’s simpler and more enjoyable to let the children of a similar age play and learn together.

Harry can barely sleep the night before, he’s so excited. He’s never had actual real _friends_ before; he spends most of his time with his tutor and nanny, who are both adults. Even though both Anne and Robin have told him several times Perrie won’t be there, he hopes that she will. Surely she won’t stay away forever.

Harry’s excitement lasts right up until his nanny drops him off and he realizes he has no idea what to do. About ten other children he’s never seen before are staring at him. Harry waves tentatively and they all start whispering to each other.

The day drags by. The four other boys only want to play at sword fighting or pretending to slay dragons, which Harry finds painfully boring. That’s all Gemma ever wants to do, so Harry is incredibly sick of any form of battle game. He builds towers with a couple of the girls for a while, but he’s not very good at it and they keep getting annoyed and taking over. Towards the end of the day, he finally convinces Elise and Helen to let him play fancy dress ball with them, but they make him be the prince and won’t let him wear anything sparkly. Harry has enough of being the prince in his non-pretend life, thank you very much. All in all, it’s a very discouraging first day. His mother is convinced that he’ll make friends soon, and yells at Gemma for claiming he won’t because he’s too boring.

“Do I have to go again tomorrow?” Harry asks that night at dinner, pushing his peas around.

“If you want, you can sit in on Gemma’s lessons instead,” Robin says.

“Sweetheart, why don’t you at least give it a few days?” Anne urges him.

“No one likes me,” Harry says sadly. Gemma rolls her eyes but gives him some of her bread.

“It’s not that they don’t like you. It’s just that they haven’t got to know you yet. How about just one more day? If you still really don’t like it tomorrow, we’ll look into getting you a tutor instead,” Anne says.

“I guess,” Harry mutters. “Can I be excused, please?” The queen sighs but nods.

It turns out, contrary to Harry’s expectations, day two does bring a new friend. Harry is sitting alone at one of the low tables and painting when the door swings open just after lunch the next day. A girl in a neatly pressed gown with matching ribbons braided into her hair is ushered into the room by her nanny.

“Sorry we’re so late. She was feeling a bit ill yesterday so we wanted to make sure everything was alright before coming back,” the nanny says to their group teacher.

“Of course. Feeling better, Lady Taylor?” the teacher asks, leaning down to say hello.

“Much, thank you,” the little girl chirps. “May I go play?” she asks her nanny, who gestures for her to go.

“She’s always so polite,” the teacher says admiringly. Harry doesn’t hear any more because, to his surprise, Taylor is coming over to him. She sits down in one of the chairs and peers over at his painting.

“I like your pony,” she says.

“Thank you,” Harry responds cautiously.

“I have a pony. Her name is Meredith.” Taylor takes some paper from the center of the table and starts working on her own painting.

“Do you like to ride?” Harry asks. Taylor shrugs.

“My parents like me to go with them sometimes.” Harry doesn’t know what to say to this. Taylor looks up at him after a moment, tilting her head to the side. “You’re the prince, right?”

“Yes,” Harry says. He doesn’t realize he’s making a face until Taylor laughs. “Just Harry, please.”

“Okay. I’m Taylor.” She signs her painting with a flourish and then hands it to him. “We’re best friends now, Harry.” Taylor pats his cheek and then runs off to grab more paint colors.

Taylor stays true to her word and spends the rest of the day with him. It’s much easier to talk to the other kids with Taylor around, too; she gets along with everyone. Even Julian, who has a bit of a shoving problem, doesn’t misbehave when Taylor’s around. Harry goes home that night actually excited to come back the next day.

Harry and Taylor are getting along so well a few weeks later that both sets of parents start to hope that maybe, just maybe, the curse will be headed off before it has even started. Taylor is patient with the small flock of birds that tend to congregate whenever Harry sets foot outside, and he doesn’t mind when she braids the entirety of her bow collection into his curls. 

It isn’t until the king and queen suggest inviting Taylor to the castle for a playdate that Harry starts to get nervous again. Things with Perrie didn’t end very well, and he doesn’t want to lose Taylor the same way. He manages to put it off a few weeks, claiming Taylor is too busy or that he forgot to ask her, but the queen eventually steps in and writes a note to Taylor’s mother to arrange things herself. When the day arrives, Harry barely wants to get out of bed. Losing Perrie was hard after a few weeks and he still misses her almost a year later. If Taylor gets sent away, not only will he have lost his best friend, he’s certain no one else in play group will want to speak to him ever again. He’ll have to get a tutor and have his lessons alone, like Gemma.

Taylor arrives precisely on time, nanny in tow. The king and queen are both sitting with Harry waiting for her, which he would find embarrassing if he weren’t too busy being nervous. All his worry is needless, though; she charms them instantly.

She waits until the king and queen leave them to it before she leans in to Harry.

“How did I do?” He looks at her, confused. “Well, your parents have to like me if I’m going to come over again, don’t they?” Harry doesn’t answer, and after a minute Taylor shrugs and starts strumming on Harry’s toy lute.

He thinks about her question later that night, lying in bed and unable to sleep. It had never occurred to him to pretend to be one way in front of his parents, while actually being a different way all alone. Taylor is right, though. He and Perrie wouldn’t have gotten in so much trouble if his mother just hadn’t _found out_ about the garden. Harry loves his parents, and Gemma, very much; he tells them everything. Sometimes the rules that have to do with not only being a prince, but being a cursed prince, get suffocating and overwhelming, but Harry has always just assumed that his mother knows best.

Taylor has a knack for being precisely what people are expecting her to be while doing exactly what she wants. In this case, she is a sweet, well-mannered future countess with the ability to keep her dresses clean while playing. It’s not that her behavior was terribly different once his parents left, either. It’s more that her question is making Harry think about the fact that it _could be._

He isn’t entirely sure how that makes him feel.

\---

As they get older, the gaps between what Harry and Taylor tell their parents they are doing and what they are actually doing get wider. It’s small things, mostly. Sneaking into the gardens at night when they are supposed to be sleeping. Taking off their shoes and running in the halls upstairs while the adults are busy at balls or court functions. Once, Taylor brings Harry a bouquet of flowers because he just wants to know what they smell like. She triple checks for roses, of course, but Harry knows his mother would be furious if she ever found out. The biggest difference, though, is that Taylor, especially, lets her parents assume something romantic is going on between them.

At thirteen, Harry is old enough to understand ambition. He understands why the parents of girls his age look at him without really seeing him at all. He knows Taylor’s parents, especially, would be a lot less likely to let their daughter spend all her time at the palace if they didn’t think it was leading up to an engagement. It would make him nervous, but Taylor doesn’t seem to have any such idea. She is well aware that nothing is going to happen between her and Harry, so confident about it that he would feel a little insulted if he didn’t feel absolutely the same way.

Their childhood group has grown as more families bring their children to stay with them while court is in session, until Harry and Taylor are tutored with about twenty other kids their age. Taylor is friendly with everyone, but Harry has never gotten past acquaintanceship with any of them. It’s just awkward; his parents are technically in charge of all of their parents, and there’s always an awareness of his curse hanging over any potential friendship. The boys treat him with a sort of nervous deference and the girls are all either giggly and flirty or distant and completely uninterested. Taylor’s solid but definitively non-romantic friendship is a comforting constant.

Taylor also flirts with _everyone_ with an ease Harry envies a little. It seems unfair that she can transition so effortlessly from friendship to holding hands and giggling into kisses and then back into friendship. The worst part is, he can’t really complain to anyone about it. He tried to talk to Gemma once, but she just gave him a knowing look and claimed he was jealous. The thing is, he isn’t jealous because he wants to be one of the boys holding Taylor’s hand. He doesn’t mind that Taylor has lots of boyfriends who aren’t him. She still spends plenty of time talking to him, she still calls him her best friend, she still cuddles him when he’s sad and laughs with him when he’s happy. The thing that makes Harry feel jealous is that he doesn’t have the sort of easiness Taylor has with other people. Even the kids he’s known most of his life still see him as a prince first, and Harry second.

Their friendship has a strange sort of equilibrium, and it nearly falls apart the summer of Harry’s fourteenth year. Taylor starts seeing a boy called Will. It’s a little more serious than her relationships have been in the past: they spend more time together and talk about a future, even if it’s just spending the next Christmas together. And it’s mostly fine, at first. Taylor has always been very conscious of including Harry, and this is no exception. She frequently invites Harry to spend time with the two of them and encourages Harry and Will to make friends.

The more time Harry spends with the two of them, though, the more difficult things get. A very small, quietly insistent part of him keeps getting louder and louder. He starts getting annoyed and picking fights with Taylor for stupid reasons so he can avoid her. He still wants to talk to Will and spend time with him, but seeing him holding hands with Taylor or, even worse, kissing Taylor makes Harry feel sick to his stomach. He has all these new confusing feelings he just doesn’t understand, and doesn’t know how to deal with them because he can’t talk to his best friend about them. After one particularly horrible fight, Taylor ignores him for a week and then breaks into his room in the middle of the night. He wakes up, sudden and uncomfortable, because she’s sitting on his legs and pinching his nose shut.

“What are you doing?” Harry hisses. It doesn’t come out very menacing because Taylor still has a hand on his nose and it’s distorting his voice.

“Why are you being so awful?”

“I’m not,” Harry pouts. “Let go of my nose.” She does, but only so she can fold her arms and glare down at him.

“If you have a crush on me or something you have to tell me. It’s the rules of friendship.”

“That isn’t a thing. And I don’t have a crush on you, that would be gross.”

“Thanks,” Taylor says sarcastically. Harry rolls his eyes.

“You know what I mean. It would be weird. Like having a crush on my sister or something.”

“Well then, what is it? You have a crush on Will?” Harry goes completely still under her. “Wait, is that it? Are you serious?”

“Obviously that isn’t it. That’s so ridiculous. Why would you even say that?” Harry says, trying to get Taylor off him so he can roll off the bed and take up permanent residence on his bedroom floor.

“It is!” Taylor whispers triumphantly, refusing to be dislodged. “You like a _boy_. This is the best day.” Harry gives up on getting rid of her and just covers his face. He’s hoping it’s dark enough so she can’t see how red it is, but he’s already cursed. The universe does not love him. Taylor is now singing about Harry and Will kissing in a tree, proving his point about the universe.

“Taylor,” Harry groans. “Stop. I’m not gay, okay? I don’t like boys. Even if I did, I definitely don’t like Will. He’s your boyfriend. That would make me a horrible friend.” Taylor doesn’t say anything, and after a moment he pulls his hands off his face to look up at her. She looks way too understanding and sympathetic for five in the morning, so he drops his hands back over his face again.

“Harry, look at me.” He shakes his head, keeping his hands firmly in place. “Hey. I will tickle you.” He groans again and moves his hands so he can glare at her. “That’s better,” she says, with a grin, before _finally_ climbing off him and laying down next to him on the bed. Harry keeps looking up at the ceiling, willing his blush to go away. “You know, you can’t help who you like, Harry. I’m not going to be mad at you for having a crush on my boyfriend.” For some reason, that’s what does it. Harry just starts flat-out sobbing, crying so hard that he has to sit up so he doesn’t accidentally drown himself. Taylor makes a noise but doesn’t say anything, just sits up behind him and pulls him into her chest. They stay like that for a bit: she lets him cry himself out and he keeps going until he can’t anymore, dreading the conversation he knows is going to happen as soon as he stops.

“It’s so stupid,” Harry finally says, wiping his eyes on his sleep shirt.

“No it’s not,” Taylor says, stubbornly.

“You don’t even know what I’m going to say.”

“Well, I know you, though. And I know that whatever you are feeling or thinking about isn’t stupid, because you aren’t stupid. You’ve amazing.” Harry’s face crumples and he starts crying again.

“I’m sorry I’ve been such a bad friend,” he wails. “I love you so much.” At that, Taylor starts tearing up a bit, too.

“I love you, too.” It’s quiet after that, just twin sniffles and the occasional slightly embarrassed chuckle.

“I don’t want to feel this way.” Harry says, quiet as the sunrise spills in through the window. They’ve migrated onto their sides in the night and Taylor is spooning Harry and gently combing her hair through his curls. She sighs.

“It’s not the worst thing in the world, Harry.” He pulls away and sits up.

“How can you say that?” he says, glaring. She shrugs.

“Lots of people like boys. Some of them are other boys.”

“Yeah, and lots of them aren’t _me._ How am I supposed to find my true love to break the curse when I’m...” he trails off.

“Harry, just because everyone’s assumed that a girl is going to break the curse doesn’t mean _only_ a girl can break the curse,” Taylor says.

“I don’t think that’s true. I’ve read the accounts of my christening. The fairy was very clear when she said _she_ must be found.”

“Magic doesn’t work like that,” Taylor argues. Harry sighs and shakes his head. “If you’re so sure, why don’t you ask her? The fairy, I mean.”

“I’m not going to do that. I’d just disappoint everyone.”

“Harry, you staying alive is way more important than not disappointing people.” She says the last two words like they’re an absurdity.

“It’s...I mean. I don’t know, Taylor. What if I’m wrong, you know? What if there is a girl out there for me? What if I don’t really...what if I’m wrong about all this?” Taylor shrugs.

“Maybe that’s true. All I’m saying is, even if you only like boys, that’s okay. You’re going to find someone and break the curse.”

“I just think maybe I should wait. To be sure.” He looks up suddenly panicked. “You won’t tell anyone, will you?”

“Of course not.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

“Not even Will? Especially not Will.”

“I won’t tell Will. I promise, Harry. I wouldn’t do that.”

“Okay.”

“I should probably go though,” Taylor says, hesitantly. “I need to sneak back in before anyone notices I’m gone.”

“Right. Yeah. You should do that.”

“Harry, it’s going to be okay. I promise. It’s all going to work out in the end.”

He smiles a little sadly and wishes he believed her.

\---

Harry thinks for a while that he’s in the clear. Taylor doesn’t bring their conversation up, doesn’t push. She breaks up with Will about a week later, but only mentions it in passing to Harry and doesn’t seem terribly upset about it. Things slowly go back to normal. Harry briefly thinks about trying to tell Will how he feels, he doesn’t think Taylor would mind. But, his fear of being rejected or laughed at is much stronger than his feelings for the other boy, and in the end he just lets their friendship fizzle.

It’s been almost two months when Taylor finally pounces. She waits until they’re out walking, far enough away from the palace that there is no chance of being overheard and also no chance of Harry escaping.

“I think you should tell your parents,” she says, interrupting Harry in the middle of an (admittedly boring) story about the barn cat and her penchant for sleeping on top of the horses.

“About Dusty’s sleeping habits?” he asks, confused. Taylor rolls her eyes.

“About you liking boys.” Harry stops walking in surprise.

“I don’t...What?”

“I mean, they want you to find someone, Harry. It will be easier for them to help with that if they know all the information.”

“Well, but,” he sputters a bit. “What about the thing you said? That maybe I like girls too?”

“Do you?” she asks.

“I don’t know,” Harry mutters. “Are you sure that’s a thing?” Taylor glares at him.

“I am sure, thanks very much. It’s...I mean, I do.”

“Oh.” Harry furrows his eyebrows. “Wait. Is that...I _knew_ something was going on with you and Elise!” Taylor doesn’t blush as easily as Harry, but her cheeks are faintly pink and she is refusing to look at him.

“There isn’t, exactly. Not yet, anyway. And stop changing the subject!” Harry pouts. Taylor rolls her eyes. “Harry,” she says, taking his hands. “I love you, but you need to get serious about this. If you’re...I can’t lose you, okay? If your soulmate is definitely going to be a boy, don’t you think it’s better that everyone know now?”

“I don’t think I’m ready,” he says quietly, not looking at her.

“Can we at least tell people that it’s not going to happen with us? Please. At least that much.”

“Is it so horrible? People thinking that?” Taylor pinches him and smiles.

“You know it’s not. It’s just not true.”

“I know. I’ll think about it, okay?” They’re nearly back to the palace but Harry isn’t ready to face anyone just yet. “You go in without me, I’ll catch up later.” She nods.

“Are we okay? You know I don’t mean to push you.”

“I know you just ‘want what’s best for me’,” he says, only mimicking her voice a little. Taylor punches his arm but laughs and leaves him alone.

Harry keeps walking, meandering down the paths. They’re kept purposefully stripped down, everything except grass several feet away on both sides. It gets a bit depressing sometimes; there’s not much color anywhere on the grounds except the specially fenced and guarded flower gardens. Harry knows it’s for his own protection, but still.

“Hello, little prince,” someone says from directly behind him. Harry starts, whirling around in surprise. A man, covered in a slightly bedraggled black cape, is standing in the middle of the path. He’s tall and thin, with a wide flat hat tipped low on his head. Harry can just barely see his sharp eyes gleaming out from under it.

“Erm. Hello,” Harry says hesitantly. It’s been drilled into him from birth to be polite to everyone he meets, but something about this person makes his skin crawl a bit.

“All alone?” The man asks, tilting his head.

“My friend is coming to meet me. She’s almost here, probably,” Harry replies. He’s not a terribly convincing liar, but hopefully the stranger won’t question him.

“Share this with her then,” the man says, smiling a bit eerily and handing Harry a small, neatly wrapped package.

“Um. Thank you?” Harry says, looking down at the present. When he doesn’t hear a response, he looks up to see the stranger has vanished. “That was weird,” Harry mutters. Significantly creeped out and no longer so eager to be alone, Harry heads back inside. He runs into Gemma on his way upstairs.

“I was just coming to find you. Mom wants you. Oh, what’s that?” she asks, trying to grab the package from him.

“Hey! That’s mine!”

“Aww. Is it from your girlfriend?” Gemma teases. “Can I open it?”

“It’s not...Taylor isn’t,” Harry sighs. “Yeah, I guess.” Gemma peels back the paper eagerly but flinches back when she opens the box. She goes pale and the smile falls off her face as she looks up at him, urgent.

“Where did you get this? Did Taylor give this to you?” she asks sharply.

“No? Why are you being weird? What is it?” Harry reaches for the box and Gemma starts back violently.

“Go to your room, Harry. Now, okay?”

“You can’t tell me what to do,” Harry says, whining a bit. “Give it back!”

“Just go,” she snaps, whirling away from him and heading toward the part of the castle where court is held.

Harry goes to his room. Not because Gemma told him to, not at all. He just doesn’t have anything else to do at the moment.

Both his parents and Gemma come to find him less than five minutes later. The queen looks frantic, still in full court attire with her headpiece sitting askew. The king looks a bit more put together, but has a grave expression on his face.

“What’s going on?” Harry asks, bewildered. “What happened?”

“Are you alright?” Anne asks, pulling him in for a hug.

“Fine?” Harry says. “Mom, what’s going on? You’re scaring me.”

“Harry, where did you get that package?” his father asks.

“Um, a man gave it to me?” Harry didn’t think his decision to accept whatever it was had been that foolish, but the way his entire family is looking at him is making him reconsider.

“Why would you take something from a complete stranger?” Gemma asks. “How stupid are you?”

“Gemma,” the queen snaps. “Don’t be rude to your brother.” Gemma rolls her eyes and leans back against the wall.

“I’m not stupid,” Harry mutters.

“What did he look like?” Robin asks.

“Um. I didn’t really see his face. He was wearing, like, a hat? And a cape?” Robin nods and leaves. Harry looks at his mother in confusion. “What’s going on? What was in the box?” She hesitates, and Gemma breaks in after a moment.

“Someone sent you a rose, Harry.”

“What,” Harry starts in surprise, “why?”

“We don’t know. But honey, you need to be more careful than this, okay? You can’t just take things from people you don’t know.”

“I know,” Harry says, looking down. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think.” His mother nods and pats his face sympathetically. He can’t decide if that is better or worse than Gemma’s irritated anxiety. At least it seems like Gemma expected more from him.

“We’re trying to figure out who it could have been, but we’re assuming it was someone working for Emmaline. Clearly we haven’t been careful enough. We thought you would be safe until you turned eighteen but clearly that isn’t the case,” the queen says, anxiously. “We need to be more careful, Harry. We can’t risk this happening again.” She’s looking at him like someone is going to swoop through the window and carry him away at any second and Harry can’t breathe, suddenly. He’s barely allowed to leave the palace as it is, whole swathes of the grounds are restricted and the nearby town has to be completely swept by the royal guards before Harry can visit. And now, that’s not enough?

“Mom,” he croaks out. She seems to misinterpret his misery for fear, though, pulling him closer to her and hugging him tightly.

“It’s going to be fine, Harry. I think, maybe, we might even have a solution.”

“Really?” Harry asks, eager for anything that means he can gain a bit more freedom. The queen pulls back a bit and exchanges a look with Gemma.

“We know you haven’t wanted to talk to us that much about it, sweetie, but we can’t help but notice things.” A flash of panic goes through Harry. Is this about Will? Does his mother _know?_ He barely notices she’s still speaking through the roaring in his ears, but he tunes back in when Gemma starts talking.

“It won’t be that bad, Haz. It’s just an engagement.”

“What?” Harry asks, completely lost.

“Your father and I were thinking, you and Taylor are practically joined at the hip already. Why not draw up a betrothal contract to make it official? It would give you a measure of safety,” the queen says.

“I don’t...what?” Gemma pushes off the wall, impatient.

“If you’ve already found your true love, that heads the curse off, doesn’t it? You’ll have Taylor to kiss you if you ever do prick your finger.”

“But, I don’t want to kiss Taylor,” Harry says, bewildered. His mother deflates, looking down at her hands sadly. Gemma throws her hands up and leaves. Harry can tell how upset the queen is because she doesn’t even seem to notice Gemma slamming the door.

“Are you certain, darling? Are you absolutely sure?”

“Mom, I’m sorry. Taylor and I are just friends.”

“Sometimes, love can grow between two people,” the queen says, a little desperately. Harry looks away.

“I don’t think that’s going to happen with me and Taylor.” Harry pauses, taking a deep breath. “In fact, I need to tell you something. I...” the door swings open again, admitting the king.

“Whoever this man was, he doesn’t appear to still be on the grounds. We’ve told all the guards to stay alert, but there is no news so far.” Anne nods in acknowledgement, although her focus remains on Harry.

“What did you need to tell me?” she asks.

“It’s not important,” Harry says, looking down.

“Are you certain?”

“Yes.” Harry smiles unconvincingly.

“Did your mother speak to you about a betrothal, Harry?” Robin asks. The queen sighs and pushes herself to her feet.

“He doesn’t want to do it. We’ll have to think of another way.”

“Hmm. I may have a solution. One of the guards, Geoff, has a son who has been training to be a bodyguard. We could have him look after Harry, make certain no one with ill intentions gets near him.

“A bodyguard?” Harry asks skeptically.

“Most royals your age have them, dear,” the queen says.

“Dad, really?”

“Yes, really. Your mother and I are concerned for you.”

“I’m already barely allowed to leave the palace,” Harry grumbles.

“Look, you’ll hardly notice he’s there. We’ll even let you go into the city more, now that you have a bodyguard. His job will just be to make sure you get away safely from any threats.” Harry rolls his eyes.

“What kind of threats, invading roses?”

“Harry. Don’t be rude to your mother.”

“Sorry,” Harry mutters.

“It’s fine, darling. We just want you to be safe.”

“Do I have any choice in this?” Harry asks, not holding out much hope. His parents exchange looks.

“I believe the boy is fairly young, still. Only nineteen. The two of you might end up being friends,” Robin says optimistically. Harry sighs. When he and Taylor talked about possibly telling their parents, he definitely didn’t envision it ending like this.

\---

The bodyguard’s name is Liam. He makes up for his relatively young age by being as much of a stick in the mud as possible, in Harry’s opinion. He insists on doing hourly sweeps of Harry’s rooms and coming up with ‘evacuation plans’ for every letter of the alphabet. Harry has tried to point out that he’s survived nearly fifteen years without needing to flee the palace, but Liam just gives him a lecture about being ‘prepared for any eventuality’ and then makes him do extra drills. He’ll yell random letters throughout the day and they’ll have to do a rehearsal. This goes on for nearly two weeks until it happens when Taylor’s over.

“Plan Q!” Liam shouts, as he flings open the door. Harry tries to get up off the settee but Taylor pulls him back down.

“What’s plan Q?”

“In Plan Q, we crawl to the laundry chute on the fourth floor and then I sneak Harry out of the palace in the dirty laundry...”

“No.”

“What?” Liam asks, confused.

“No. We aren’t doing that. Can’t you see we’re in the middle of a conversation? Do your drill later.” Liam just blinks at her. As annoyed as Harry has been over the past couple weeks, he’s never questioned Liam’s drills. He’s certainly never just refused to do them.

“I’m...Uh...That is...” Liam sputters, at a loss for words. Taylor looks at Harry, who just shrugs.

“Right. How often have you been doing these?”

“Usually twice a day, sometimes more if I don’t have a public appearance scheduled,” Harry tells her.

“Wow, that’s ridiculous. Okay. These are slowing way down. You, what’s your name?”

“Liam,” Liam says meekly.

“Okay, Liam. From now on, drills are happening once every two weeks. You have Harry’s schedule, I’m assuming?” Liam nods. “Work around it. Now, would you like to have tea with us?”

“Yes, please,” Liam mutters, sitting down. Harry insists on hugging Taylor for five full minutes after that, ignoring her squawks about how her dignity is being compromised.

With Harry’s safety being monitored, Anne moves to attack the curse problem from a different angle: advice. Harry gets dragged from good witch to fairy to seer to morally-ambiguous-but-fairly-loyal-to-the-crown wizard in search of tips on finding a soul mate. Harry’s heart sinks further with each visit. He hears it over and over again: she. She will be beautiful, talented, a skilled dancer, accomplished at needlework. Once or twice he thinks he’ll make it through a visit without hearing the dreaded word, but it always happens in the end. So much for Taylor’s optimism and so much for magic.

The queen establishes a veritable laundry list of predicted qualities Harry’s future wife will possess and Harry gains a vast dislike for everything resembling romance. Eventually, he insists the visits stop and his mother work with what she already has. By sixteen, he refuses to be involved in the process at all.

“Please, just give me a year. A year to work on being a good prince and learning about what my duties will be, assuming I survive. At this point, I’m going to be completely useless.”

“Harry, just meet one more...”

“Mom, please. Look, we’ll still have a whole year after this, okay? And I will do whatever you want in that year. Just, please, give me this.” It takes a lot more begging and some well-timed tears, but Harry is finally set free. Free to leave the palace when he wishes (provided Liam comes along), free to establish a name for himself in court, free to actually see the kingdom. He doesn’t intend to waste a second.

\---

Of course, on their very first outing, a complication arises. All Harry wanted was to go shopping. Pick up some nice headscarves to match his court shoes, maybe a sculpture to replace the one of Taylor’s he accidentally broke (and then somewhat sloppily repaired) before she notices. They’re in an antique store, Liam happily occupied in searching for an addition to his turtle statue collection, when Harry hears a faint humming. It’s coming from the back corner of the shop, but when Harry goes to investigate, it’s fairly dusty and definitively empty. There aren’t even any antiques back here, just a cloth draped over something hanging on the wall. Curious, Harry pushes it aside and then immediately jumps back.

“Hello? Have you run away already?”

“Um. No, sorry,” Harry flips the cloth up again, coughing a little at the dust. “I wasn’t...expecting anyone?”

“Haven’t you ever met an enchanted mirror before?”

“Uh, no.”

“Oh,” the mirror says. “I thought we were terribly common.”

“Maybe? I don’t get out a lot.”

“Right.”

“Well,” Harry pauses awkwardly. “I guess I’ll be going.”

“They always do,” the mirror says sadly. “Everyone leaves me.”

“Oh no. I’m sorry. That sounds awful.” The mirror perks up slightly now that he apparently has Harry’s attention.

“It is. I’ve been abandoned by my last ten owners.”

“Why?” Harry says slowly. “Did you...do something to them?” The mirror looks offended.

“Oi! Why would you assume that!”

“I don’t know! Ten people is a lot!”

“Yeah, well! I can’t help it if they decided they didn’t like me!”

“Sorry.”

“Whatever,” the mirror snaps, waving toward the curtain. “Just put me away. Go back to doing whatever ambulatory things you normally do.”

“Well, I can’t just leave you here.”

“I’ll be fine.”

“Just, hold on a minute.” Harry jogs up to the front of the shop. “How much for that mirror in the back?”

“Which one? The heavy gold one or the mahogany frame one?”

“Um, neither. The magic one.”

“Oh,” the shopkeeper looks taken aback. “Why would you want that one?”

“I’ve been needing a magic mirror.”

“Okay,” the shopkeeper says skeptically. “You can just take it. No returns though!”

“Don’t worry about that. We’re friends now,” Harry says firmly.

“Who, you and me?”

“No, the mirror and...I mean, you seem really nice, too.” The shopkeeper just raises an eyebrow and Harry walks away while he is ahead.

\---

“What’s that?” Liam asks as they are leaving the shop.

“I have a name, you know,” the mirror says from behind the curtain. Liam yelps and leaps back.

“Magic mirror,” Harry replies, “and what’s your name? I’m sorry, I should have asked earlier. Do you want the cover off or will the walking make you nauseous?”

“Yes please, I’ve been in that shop for ages.” Harry pulls the cover off and Liam promptly trips over his own feet. “Are you all right?”

“Yes. I am fine. Great,” Liam blusters, hopping back up. “I am Liam.”

“Right,” the mirror says slowly. “Zayn.”

“I’m Harry,” Harry says, trying to wave and not drop Zayn at the same time. It’s a close thing.

“Stop waving!” Zayn squawks.

“Sorry.”

“I would suggest you hand me to your counterpart but he appears to be no more steady.” Liam turns red and mutters something that seems to involve the words ‘greek god.’ Harry ignores him.

“It’s okay, I’ve got you. You’re coming back to the castle with us!”

“Castle?” Zayn asks skeptically.

“Yes. I’m the prince there. Liam’s my bodyguard.”

“Good for you I guess. It doesn’t matter, it’s not like I’ll be there for very long.”

“What do you mean? Oh because of the curse?”

“You’ll abandon me. Everyone does. And what curse?”

“Of course I won’t abandon you! Well, unless I die in two years like I’m supposed to.” Zayn looks faintly alarmed. “It probably won’t happen. Maybe. It’s one of those true love’s kiss things.” Harry isn’t actually that optimistic about his prospects, but there’s no need to bring Zayn down.

“Oh. I’m sure it will all work out then. They usually do. Except for me,” Zayn tacks on mournfully.

“Are you also trying to find your true love?”

“No. Just someone powerful enough to break the enchantment on the mirror and let me out.” Harry perks up at this.

“Don’t worry, Zayn. I’ll find someone to help you!”

“Right,” Zayn says skeptically.

“Why do people keep abandoning you?” Liam asks, having finally located his tongue.

“Well, mirrors are supposed to be honest, you know? And people aren’t very creative with their questions.” He pauses dramatically so Harry prompts him to continue.

“What do you mean?”

“I get asked who the fairest in the land is a lot. And it’s, well...” Zayn trails off.

“You?” Liam guesses. Zayn nods.

“People don’t like that answer.”

“Well I don’t care how beautiful you are,” Harry says stubbornly, “we’re going to remain friends anyway.”

“We’ll see,” Zayn says, lapsing into pessimistic silence.

\---

Harry wakes up the next morning excited to tackle The Zayn Problem, but it turns out his break from curse business is much shorter than anticipated. He arrives at breakfast to see Caroline and a boy he’s never met before seated across from Anne, Robin, and Gemma.

“Harry, darling,” Caroline says, bouncing to her feet. “It’s so lovely to see you! How _are_ you?”

“I’m well, thank you,” Harry sighs. Anne looks slightly guilty at least, and he can’t really snap at her when they have company.

“Excellent,” Caroline beams, impervious to his mood.

“Harry,” Anne breaks in, “this is Caroline’s...what is he again?”

“Sister’s husband’s nephew.”

“Right. This is Niall.” The boy waves and grins around a mouthful of toast.

“He’s a promising young magician,” Caroline continues. “He might be able to help with your little problem.”

“That’s really nice of you, Caroline, but...”

“Harry, Caroline’s come all this way to introduce you,” Robin says warningly.

“Right,” Harry sighs.

“Well I’m off,” Gemma says, hopping up from the table. “Good luck, little bro.” She ignores Harry’s pleading expression.

“I thought you were home today, Gemma?” Anne asks.

“I’ve got to pack. We’re riding out early tomorrow to fight that dragon up in Terrina.”

“Well, be careful, darling.”

“I always am,” Gemma sings out, smacking a kiss on the queen’s cheek and whacking Harry on the arm as she heads for the door. Harry is just resigning himself to a deeply uncomfortable breakfast when Niall also stands up.

“We’ll head out, too. Get to work.”

“Oh, would you like my assistance,” Caroline says brightly, reaching for her wand.

“I work best alone. It allows for a purer magical flow between myself and Harry,” Niall says, looking at her seriously. She nods like this makes total sense and is not completely made up. Harry looks imploringly at his mother as Niall pulls him out of the room but she is studiously avoiding his eyes.

“Right,” Niall says, as soon as the door shuts behind them. “That nightmare’s over.”

“What?” Harry asks, confused.

“What do you do for fun around here, anyway?” Harry might be a little too excited when he hugs Niall because they both topple over, but Niall just laughs.

\---

Considering the circumstances, it’s fairly surprising that Harry and Niall get along at all. The last ‘really talented’ distant relative of Caroline’s Harry met insisted on burning down the entire garden to ensure no roses were lurking anywhere. There’s still a weird spot where nothing will grow. The girl three times ago had a ‘method’ of recruiting potential wives for Harry that involved a lot of hugely embarrassing town square proclamations and one particularly memorable incident that led to Harry hiding in a barrel while Liam, disguised as an old man, rolled him down the street. So really, the bar is pretty low. Niall’s great, though. He doesn’t stare earnestly into Harry’s eyes and murmur platitudes and he doesn’t insist on any weird rituals. He doesn’t even blink when Harry reveals that one of his three closest friends is now, apparently, a magic mirror.

“Awesome. So have you, like, always been a mirror?”

“No,” Zayn sighs. “I used to be just an ordinary human. I was cursed about twenty years ago and trapped in this mirrored prison.”

“We’re going to figure out how to break the curse, though,” Harry says determinedly. After a whole day of non-abandonment, Zayn has stopped contradicting this statement every three or four times Harry makes it.

“Harry I...oh. I didn’t realize you had company?” Liam says as he comes into the room.

“This is Niall.” Niall waves.

“Right, hi,” Liam says slowly. “Anyway, it’s time for a drill. We were supposed to do one yesterday so we really can’t push it.”

“Liam,” Harry tries to think of an excuse other than ‘you’re embarrassing me’ but comes up empty. Where is Taylor when you need her?

“You can bring your new friend Niall.” Liam smiles proudly at this suggestion, completely missing the point of Harry’s complaint.

“What are we doing?” Niall sounds excited, which is definitely the wrong response.

“Evacuation drill,” Harry sighs, resigned.

“Awesome. What do we do?”

“Well, it’s Plan G, which is a rapid evacuation from the palace grounds involving a disguise as peasants and efficient use of the underground tunnels.”

“Do you have extra disguises?”

“Obviously,” Liam scoffs.

“I see how it is,” Zayn pipes up. “Extra disguises for everyone except the mirror.”

“I didn’t plan for the addition of a mirror,” Liam says, stricken.

“No one does,” Zayn sniffles.

“It will be fine,” Harry says firmly. “I’ll carry Zayn, Niall can go in front as a lookout and Liam can make sure we aren’t being followed.”

“Let’s do it!” Niall cheers.

Getting into the disguises is slightly less efficient than usual because Zayn keeps critiquing their outfits so he can feel included, and it’s only downhill from there. For one, Niall is an appalling lookout. He keeps striking unnecessarily dramatic poses and then miming things back to them. Harry can’t stop giggling and even Zayn looks faintly amused. They’re spotted by at least seven people, but most of them are polite enough to pretend they don’t notice. Liam gets detained in his rear guard duties when one of the housemaids, having forgotten her spectacles, mistakes him for the new footman. She scolds him for a solid fifteen minutes for not being in uniform, and Liam is too polite to interrupt her. When they finally get out of the tunnels, things do not improve.

Harry is not a very common sight around the capital city, so he draws some interest every time he goes out. A trip is not complete without a distant acquaintance introducing their travelling relatives and friends in the hope that one of them will turn out to be Harry’s soul mate. Roses have been banned from the capital since the curse took effect, but flower stands still shuffle around their merchandise to show just how seriously they take the health and safety of the prince. Most notably, thanks to his gift from an unfortunately creative fairy, Harry tends to attract a small swarm of birds whenever he goes outdoors. Liam has gotten used to it and doesn’t bother to react anymore, but Zayn keeps yelling in distress and trying to duck out of the frame to avoid any stray droppings and Niall is laughing so hard at Zayn that he nearly topples over. Harry hands Zayn to Liam and waves his arms a bit to get all the birds’ attention.

"Excuse me!" Harry says, firmly but politely. "If you'll all just settle down I can speak to you one at a time." Niall is surprised enough that he stops laughing when the birds land in an odd huddle around Harry. "Now, who started it?" Several of the birds start squawking and flapping their wings. "No I don't care how rude the swans were, you know that wasn't polite." Silence descends on the little gathering as Harry looks sternly from bird to bird.

"Make them apologize for nearly ruining my frame," Zayn pipes up. He sounds more fascinated than irritated, but Harry still nods and glares at the birds. They all do an odd little unison hop.

"They've offered to carry you back into the palace as an apology," Harry says.

"Right," Zayn responds faintly, "have they now?"

"I don't think that will be necessary but thank you for your kind offer." Harry pauses, listening intently to the chirps and tweets. "No, no messages to send today. Please keep in mind that the royal pond is for everyone, even the swans. Goodbye! I'll come visit soon!" Most of the birds take off at this, but one pigeon stays behind, hopping up onto his shoulder and peering over at Niall inquisitively.

"Is it always like this?" Niall asks, fascinated.

"Yes," Liam says gloomily.

"It's not that bad, Liam. Sometimes they just need a mediator."

"You indulge them too much," Liam says. The pigeon cocks its head and then gives a short burst of coos. Harry stifles a giggle.

"That's not very nice, Kevin." Liam glares at the bird.

"Can we please get the rude pigeon away from me?" Zayn asks. Kevin flies away.

"Now you've hurt his feelings," Harry says sadly.

"Good," Liam mutters.

"You can talk to birds?" Niall asks, still fascinated.

"Oh. Yes. It's one of my gifts," Harry dimples.

"What other gifts do you have?"

"Okay," Liam interrupts as Harry takes a deep breath to explain, "I'm calling it. This drill is our worst failure yet. Pack it in, let's go."

\---

Over the next few weeks, drill speeds do not improve. Niall thinks the way Liam starts breathing heavily through his nose when things go wrong is hilarious, and Zayn insists on being brought on every single drill.

“I mean, we’ll need to bring him if something actually does go wrong,” Harry says reasonably, “we might as well bring him on the practice rounds.”

“I didn’t mean Zayn,” Liam hisses.

“Oh. We shouldn’t bring who this time?”

“Ready to go?” Niall asks, smiling a bit maniacally. Liam starts breathing through his nose.

During non-drill related activities, though, the four actually get along pretty well. Harry loves having more people to talk to, and Liam finds Niall endearing when he’s not making a mockery of his job. Zayn is still fairly guarded with all of them, but Harry is starting to get suspicious that he and Liam have long serious talks when he and Niall aren’t around. They communicate far too efficiently using only their eyebrows.

Sixteen is a lot more fun than the years leading up to it. His mother, perhaps under the mistaken impression Niall is helping break the curse, allows him more freedom. He has his friends and a whole year free from worry.

It goes by much too fast.

\---

Harry wakes up on his seventeenth birthday with a leaden feeling of dread in the pit of his stomach. He briefly considers 1. hiding in an apple cart as a means of escaping town (an adaptation of plan D) 2. bribing one of the flower shops to somehow produce a rose so he can just sleep through whatever nightmare courtship ritual his parents have had the last year to cook up 3. getting under the bed and just refusing to come out. In the end, he sighs deeply and goes down to breakfast as usual.

“Happy birthday, little brother,” Gemma chirps, ruffling his hair on her way to her seat. Harry blinks in confusion, then leaps up to give her a hug.

“You’re home? When did you get here?”

“Late last night. Couldn’t miss your birthday, could I?”

“Good. You’ll distract mom and dad.”

“Wow, great to see you too.”

“Aww, that’s not what I meant, Gems. I’m really happy you’re here. Clanarra job give you any trouble?”

“Yes,” Gemma says gleefully, pulling up her sleeve to reveal a massive burn mark. “There were five of them!”

“I can’t believe they let the heir to the kingdom go fight five dragons.”

“I’m a fantastic dragon slayer, I’ll have you know.”

“Meanwhile I can’t even leave the palace without a babysitter,” Harry mutters gloomily.

“Aww, Haz,” Gemma says with her mouth full of eggs, “I’m sure this year won’t be _that_ bad.” As if on cue, the door bursts open to admit the queen trailing three personal assistants.

“King Robin will need more of your help than usual, Aiden, he’s going to be holding court alone for the next month at least.” One of the assistants peels off, presumably to go find the king. “Kendall, you have the list of invitations, correct? That’s all I need from you now. Make sure they’re sent, we need a head count by next week. And Cara, please check that preparations are underway in the green salon. We have twenty-five confirmed for luncheon, but expect thirty. And one of you find James, would you? Let him know I’m at breakfast with my children.” The two women nod and leave as the queen sinks gracefully into her chair. “Happy birthday, darling.”

“What was all that?” Harry asks slowly. Queen Anne waves her hand dismissively.

“Don’t worry about that just yet. I want you to focus on enjoying your birthday ball tonight.”

“I think he would enjoy it more if he hadn’t just heard that list of ominously ambiguous instructions,” Gemma says.

“Nice of you to join us, Gemma. The tailor is waiting for you with several options for tonight’s ball. Please don’t dawdle over breakfast.”

“Good luck,” she whispers in Harry’s ear, before saluting her mother and heading for the door. He resists the urge to physically stop her from leaving the room and/or burst into tears. Barely.

\---

In spite of the inauspicious beginning, his birthday is tolerable. The queen seems to have meant what she said at breakfast: the focus is almost entirely on his ball. He’s banned from the green salon all morning, but convinces Cara to tell him that his mother is having a last-minute meeting with various magical beings from around the kingdom to ‘compile a list.’ That’s all she’ll say, and Harry isn’t sure if he feels better or worse.

Niall, Taylor, and Harry get ready for the ball together. There isn’t really a practical way to bring Zayn, so they’ve compromised by having Liam stay behind with him. Harry is fairly certain this ball won’t include an eligible maiden ambush, but you can never really be one hundred percent sure. Still, he has his friends, and it is his birthday after all. He decides to at least attempt to relax and enjoy himself.

Niall is swept away in a crowd of friends almost as soon as they are announced, so Harry clutches Taylor’s elbow to ensure she won’t abandon him.

“Relax, Harry. It’s just a party.”

“Just stay until I’m sure this isn’t a trap!” Taylor rolls her eyes, but links their arms more securely and tows him over to the punch table. She really is an amazing friend.

“I’m fairly certain you have another three months until the trap springs,” she adds, somewhat ominously.

“What does that mean?”

“Your Royal Highness! So lovely to see you again! Happy birthday.”

“Thank you so much, Lady Winston.” Jane is generally someone he is quite happy to chat with, but right now Harry wishes she would leave so he can interrogate Taylor. There’s no dodging politeness, though, so Harry just grits his teeth and responds as pleasantly as possible. From there, he and Taylor are drawn away into separate conversations and then dances; he can’t seem to get her away from the party for long enough to ask her what she meant. This, understandably, casts a bit of a pall over the celebration for Harry. When he sees the opportunity to sneak out two hours in, he takes it.

Having grown up in the palace, he knows where guests generally head for party overflow, and where is usually quiet and deserted. The portrait gallery on the top floor (dedicated to the horses and dogs of his ancestors) is always empty. Except for tonight, it seems. There’s a young, elegantly dressed man standing in front of a rather enormous painting of Queen Catherine’s fox terrier. Harry tries to back out of the gallery unnoticed, but bumps into a pedestal holding a bronzed horseshoe. It clangs loudly on the floor and the boy starts and turns around.

“Oops,” Harry mutters.

“Hi,” the boy says. “Err...hello, Your Royal Highness.” Harry, still frozen, briefly debates just fleeing and hoping that the rumors of his complete social ineptitude fade quickly, but the boy smiles at him and bends to pick up the horseshoe. “All fixed,” he smirks, adjusting it so it’s sitting squarely on the pedestal once more. “I won’t tell if you won’t.” Harry swallows.

“Hi. I’m Harry.” The rumors will not fade quickly. People generations from now will be talking about the complete social failure of a prince. Harry wants to melt into a puddle and ooze away. The boy laughs, but it’s high and sweet rather than malicious.

“I know.” He winks. “Louis,” he says, holding out a hand.

“Right,” Harry racks his brains for some elusive shred of politeness and correct decorum, “the Marquess of Doncaster, right?”

“That’s me. Just Louis is fine, though.” Harry starts to relax a little.

“Only if you call me Harry.”

“It’s a deal,” Louis winks again. “So,” he adds, turning back to look at the portrait, “did this dog do something special? Or can just any dog be memorialized up here?”

“I think he actually saved the queen from a bear.”

“What, really?”

“No,” Harry giggles.

“I see you’ve got a dishonest streak, Harry. Disappointing. Can I trust you to tell me what this horse over here did, hmm? Or do I need to research it for myself?”

“I think he won against an invading army in single-handed combat,” Harry says seriously. He can’t hold back a smile, though, when Louis bursts out laughing.

“Is that what they’re teaching royals these days? Appalling.”

“Hey,” Harry says, “I only speak the truth.”

“Sure,” Louis responds, amused. They continue to make up increasingly unrealistic stories about the animal portraits and Louis doesn’t ask him why he’s hiding from his own birthday party. It’s nice. Harry feels almost normal, the ticking clock above his head fades out of existence. They end up on the balcony at the end of the gallery, leaning over the edge to watch the way the gardens are lit up in streams from the ballroom.

“I should probably go back down,” Harry says quietly.

“If you need to,” Louis says, looking at his shoes.

“I doubt they’ll miss me for a few more minutes, though.” Louis grins.

\---

In the end, Harry stays with Louis until James, who his mother has put in charge of coordinating the party, comes to find him.

“Her majesty wants you to make a speech.”

“Right,” Harry says, standing slowly. “I’ll be there in a minute, James.” He waits until they’re alone again and then turns to Louis. “I better go.”

“Yeah,” Louis smiles at him, and Harry’s not sure if he’s imagining the flash of sadness or not. “You’ll smash it, I’m sure.”

“Probably. My mother has an excellent speech writer,” Harry says wryly.

“I’ll see you down there, yeah?” Harry nods. Louis looks at him for a moment, and then holds out a hand tentatively. Harry shakes his hand, holding on for perhaps a little longer than normal. Leaving their little bubble means all the pressure he had been hiding from is coming back stronger and faster than ever. Harry just wants to stay on this balcony for a little longer, but he can’t. James joins them at the end of the corridor and they walk back to the ballroom in silence.

By the time they reach his mother, Louis has been absorbed back into the crowd. Queen Anne smiles and pulls her son into a hug.

“Happy birthday, darling. Are you enjoying yourself?” Harry nods and tries to smile. It doesn’t quite reach his eyes, but the queen is distracted by a brief conversation with James and doesn’t notice. “Here are a few talking points for you. Keep it short, your father and I have an announcement to make.” Harry nods, looking down at the cards. “Are you all right? Enjoying your party?”

“It’s lovely, thank you.”

“Good,” she smiles at him. “I’m so proud of you, sweetheart. I know it’s been hard, growing up like this, but we’re nearly through. We’ll find someone, I’m sure of it.” Harry is much less certain, but he doesn’t contradict her. He just smiles and tries to pull together some sort of princely facade for his speech.

“Uh, hello everyone,” Harry says into the newly quiet ballroom. Taylor shoots him a thumbs up. “I’m seventeen today.” Polite applause. Louis is pulling a face at him from the back of the room and Harry fights down a giggle. “I just wanted to say thank you to everyone for attending, and to my mother and father for hosting.” He looks down and gets through the rest of the cards as quickly as possible. “And now, I believe my mother has an announcement.” The queen glides over to him gracefully and kisses his cheek.

“I would like to second my son’s thanks. Now, the invitations have already gone out, but my husband and I would to make our request official. You are all welcome to join us three months hence in our attempt to save our son from the curse he is under. The greatest magical minds in the kingdom have given us a list of ways to identify his bride and true love. The future princess of Arixia will be chosen from the contestants who gather here.”

A burst of whispers breaks out around the hall, but Harry hardly notices over the buzzing in his own ears. “The winner of the contest will be granted Prince Harry’s hand in marriage!” The queen finishes speaking and Harry’s eyes find Taylor in the crowd. He tries to glare at her for not warning him about this but she’s ducking behind the absurdly tall Lord Covington and he can only really see her shoes. Harry vows to yell at her as soon as he can find her in the crowd.

\---

“You couldn’t tell _me_ before you announced it to the whole kingdom?” Harry asks, furious. It’s taken an additional hour to get his mother alone and it has not brought his anxiety level down.

“I didn’t want to add stress on your birthday!”

“Trust me, you have!” Harry snaps. He takes a deep breath. “Mother, you can do whatever you want in three months. I will not be participating.”

“Harry...”

“No! You should have asked me! I don’t want any of this!”

“Did you want us to just give up?” she asks, barely holding back tears. “Did you want us to let you die? Without even trying to stop it?” Harry sighs and takes her hands.

“Mom, I just don’t think this is the way.”

“Then how?”

“Just...let what happens, happen.” His mother shakes his head but he keeps talking. “Look, I’m happy with my life. I have my friends, I have you and dad and Gemma. I like to think I do a decent job being a prince.”

“You’re a wonderful prince,” she says, a bit damply.

“And if I had all that for eighteen years, that’s a lot. It’s much more than so many people have, you know?”

“Harry, we can’t just stop trying.”

“Mom,” Harry sighs, “I love you, but this search has already taken up so much of my life. I just want to actually _live_ it while I can, you know?”

“I understand, I really do. But remember what we talked about on your sixteenth birthday?”

“Yes,” Harry says, reluctantly.

“And I tried to give you time, I did. But you only have a year left.” Harry sighs.

“Look, if I agree to this...contest, it’s going to be within some guidelines, okay?”

“Of course, darling. Whatever you want.”

“First of all, no more surprises, please.”

“I’ll have Cara keep you informed.”

“And please, can we keep this whole thing somewhat reasonable? Like, let’s not derail these poor girls’ lives for longer than need be.”

“Of course,” the queen says. “But honey, they are getting a chance to marry a prince. It’s not like we needed to coerce anyone into participating.”

“Still,” Harry says, somehow not comforted.

“If you’d like, you can help us narrow down the list of challenges. We have a working list of forty, at the moment.” Harry blanches.

“Can’t I just, like, have a conversation with them?”

“Darling, don’t be cavalier.”

“I...wasn’t?”

“We’ve spent a huge amount of time and money on consulting; it would be foolish not to use the advice we’ve gotten.”

“Right.” He knows his mother only has his best interests at heart, but it’s difficult to remember when she consistently ignores what he wants to do with his life in favor of what she thinks is best. “I’m going to turn in for the night.”

“Very well, I’ll see you tomorrow. Happy birthday, sweetheart.”

“Good night,” he sighs, letting her kiss him on the cheek.

\---

Taylor tries to duck out of sight when Harry sees her after court the next morning, but he marches up to her determinedly.

“I can’t believe you knew about this ridiculous scheme and didn’t tell me!”

“In my defense, I only found out that morning. Your mother asked me not to tell you.”

“Since when do you listen to my mother?”

“I know, I’m sorry. She looked all earnest, you know how she is!”

“I do,” Harry says, reluctantly. “I guess you can make it up to me by helping me narrow down these challenges. I foolishly asked to be included in this process.”

“How bad can it be having a bunch of gorgeous women throwing themselves at you? I wish I had your problems,” Taylor says, leering obnoxiously. _Why are we even friends, honestly_ , Harry thinks.

“Come on, we’re late meeting Cara,” he says, ignoring her.

“I never agreed to this!” Taylor protests. She follows him, though, so Harry counts it as a win.

Cara has an enormous roll of parchment open on the table in front of her, held down on one end by a somewhat unsteady looking pile of books.

“You’re late,” she says, not looking up.

“Sorry,” Harry says. “I brought you some biscuits from breakfast.”

“Suck up,” Taylor coughs.

“You’re forgiven,” Cara says, grabbing one of the biscuits and devouring it immediately. “I haven’t had time to eat.” She pauses, glancing at Taylor before continuing. “I’m sure it was Taylor’s fault anyway.”

“Excuse me. It was not!” Cara grins at Taylor and then carefully pulls a book from the middle of the pile.

“Right, who’s better at seating etiquette? Kendall’s sick today so I somehow have to do her job and mine.”

“I’ll do it,” Taylor sighs. Cara tosses her the book.

“Acceptances are stuck in somewhere around page 60. Just make a start, they’ll be trickling in for a while. Harry that means you’re narrowing challenges with me. We need to hurry on those, your mother wants a tentative list of supplies by the end of the week.”

“Supplies?” Harry asks nervously. Cara wordlessly hands him the list. _Identify potential allergens in 17 completed dishes. Give the scientific names for each flower in a bouquet prepared by Prince Harry. Submit a detailed plan for a celebratory ball thrown for 250 persons. Master at least four instruments,_ he reads.

“This is how I’m supposed to find my future wife?”

“Well, we’re narrowing it down. Some of them are a bit ridiculous. Like, _have exceptionally beautiful eyelashes_ how would we even judge that? Anyway, sit down and pick out some challenges to keep and some to throw out. Don’t worry, I’ll go over the list before we give it to the queen. I’m going to check on Taylor and then I need to go over some things with the postmistress. Do you need anything else?”

“I guess not?” Cara pats him on the shoulder and then slides down the bench to Taylor.

“How are you doing, Countess?” Taylor gives her a look.

“I hate precedence.”

“I know. It’s horrible. Especially difficult to stomach for someone as high-ranking as yourself.”

“That’s not what I meant, Cara.”

“Well you seem to have everything well in hand. Keep an eye on Harry, won’t you?” She says, grabbing two of the books off the pile and leaving.

“What was that about?” Harry asks, when it becomes apparent that Taylor is not going to say anything.

“It’s complicated,” she mutters.

“There’s a complicated with you and Cara?”

“I’ll trade you jobs if you drop it. I’m almost halfway done, there are only about fifty acceptances so far.”

“Fifty?!”

“How many girls did you expect would show up to try and marry you?” Taylor asks, amused.

“Not fifty.” Harry can’t believe this. He had expected maybe ten or fifteen girls to respond.

“Well, don’t worry. Several of the notices are for brothers or male cousins. The girls who don’t get the grand prize will still get a shot at a runner up.”

“That’s sort of a cynical thing to say, don’t you think?”

“I don’t know. Do you believe in true love, Harry?” Taylor’s voice is somewhere between serious and sarcastic.

“I guess you have a point,” Harry responds quietly.

“Hey,” she says, sliding closer to him and putting an arm around his shoulders. “I’m sure you’ll meet someone. Caroline seems pretty convinced, and she knows more about the curse than anyone.”

“It’s not like she has all the information, though, is it? I never wanted it to be this way, you know?”

“I know. Should have fallen in love with me when you had the chance,” she adds, trying to lighten the mood. Harry chuckles a little. “Why don’t you go do something fun? I’ll finish up here.”

“Are you sure?”

“Absolutely. It’ll be harder to get a break once everyone descends, you should enjoy yourself while you can.”

“Comforting,” Harry says drily. Taylor grins and then starts to shoo him out of the room.

“Go find your other friends; I’m busy.”

“I’m going!” Harry says, grateful even though Taylor did slam the door in his face. He wanders off to find Niall; maybe he’ll have an opinion on this list of challenges.

Niall, as it turns out, has no (helpful) opinion.

“How should I know which of these questions can help reliably identify your future wife? _Her favorite vegetable will be carrots_...who wrote these?”

“I don’t know, various people with magic? Now would be a really great time for your latent magical ability to surface and just identify which of these I should pick.” In spite of being the son of two of the most powerful mages in the surrounding five kingdoms, Niall can barely light a candle unassisted. His parents think it’s horrifying; Niall thinks it’s hilarious.

“Why don’t you just talk to them?”

“That’s what I said, but my mother thinks this will be easier. I’m trying to get her to involve me more before she makes decisions, I don’t want to screw up the first task she’s given me.” Taylor sticks her head into the room.

“This does not sound like ‘something fun,’ Harry.”

“I’m sorry,” Harry says, tugging at his hair nervously.

“Don’t be. Niall, stop being useless. Go get the mirror and the bodyguard.” Niall doesn’t bother to point out that Taylor has known Liam and Zayn for over a year and is well aware of their names, he just pats Harry on the back and goes to do as he’s told. “Right. We’re having an actual party tonight. Just us and a few friends. No pressure, no weird contests, and definitely no one who wants to marry you.”

“Guess you can’t come then,” Harry smirks.

“Shut up or I _will_ refuse your mother’s invitation.”

“Please don’t! I’m sorry! I’ll need your help!”

“Then stop sassing me and go get dressed, prince of my heart.”

“I’m going, countess of my dreams.”

\---

Taylor shuts the door to her room and leans against it briefly, letting herself relax for a moment. She only has about ten minutes before Harry will start to get antsy again but she intends to use all of it to attempt to get her head in order.

Unfortunately, someone knocks on her door barely twenty seconds later. Taylor sighs and turns around slowly to see who it is.

“I need the seating list,” Cara says.

“I left it on the table,” Taylor lies.

“No you didn’t. You took it with you. Probably on purpose.”

“And why would I do that?” Taylor asks, leaning against the doorway. Cara rolls her eyes and pushes past her into the room. Taylor shuts the door.

“Where is it, Taylor. I don’t have time for this.”

“It wasn’t my idea to come to the meeting, you know. Harry asked me,” Taylor says, opening her desk and pulling out the list.

“Right. He wouldn’t know that it would be awkward because he doesn’t know about us. Just like all of your other friends.”

“It wouldn’t have been awkward if you hadn’t kissed someone else,” Taylor snaps, shoving the list into Cara’s hands.

“Which I wouldn’t have done if you had given me even the slightest hint that that wasn’t okay!”

“Of course it wasn’t!”

“Taylor, I don’t want to have this fight again,” Cara sighs. “I’m sorry I can’t read your mind. How was I supposed to know you were serious about us when you didn’t tell me? Or anyone, actually.”

“I thought it was obvious,” Taylor says, quietly. “I haven’t even looked at anyone else since I met you.” Cara sighs.

“Look, I understand why you’re hurt, I do. But Taylor, you’re a duchess. We don’t have a future. This is just a fun diversion for you until you meet some nice little lordling and bring him home to meet your parents.”

“That’s not true.”

“Then why is it that your best friend doesn’t even know about us?”

“He does now,” Taylor says mulishly. Cara laughs and leans her forehead against Taylor’s.

“I do like you, you know,” she says softly. “It’s just not meant to be.”

“Shouldn’t being a duchess mean I can be with whoever I want?”

“It probably should, but it doesn’t.” Cara giggles again.

“Why are you laughing?” Taylor asks.

“Thinking about your parents’ reaction if they found out about us,” Cara says. Taylor makes a face. “Just let this be what it is.”

“What if I tell them?” Taylor says abruptly.

“What?” Cara says, pulling away a bit in confusion.

“What if I tell my parents about us?” Cara just laughs. “I’m serious,” Taylor says.

“Taylor. Your parents are some of the most traditional people I’ve ever met. The fact that I’m a girl is shocking enough. Female and a commoner? They’d disown you.” Taylor looks down but doesn’t contradict her. The only reason Taylor has what little freedom she possesses is because her parents are convinced she’s practically engaged to Prince Harry.

“I just don’t want to lose you, Cara.”

“You won’t. Not for a while anyway,” Cara says, a little sadly.

“Can you at least...no one else. Please? At least until...”

“Okay,” Cara says softly. “I am sorry for hurting you. I just, I didn’t know.” Taylor opens her mouth to respond but is interrupted by someone knocking.

“That’s probably Harry,” she explains.

“I’ll sneak out the back,” Cara says.

“You don’t have to,” Taylor argues, a bit weakly.

“I’ll see you later tonight,” Cara says, not really answering. Later, Taylor regrets not insisting on bringing Cara to the door with her, but at the time she’s just grateful.

\---

Louis is woken, abruptly and unpleasantly, by something slamming into him.

“What’s happening now?” he mutters groggily.

“Wake _up_!” Lottie snaps.

“Come have breakfast with us, Lou,” the thing on his chest adds.

“Did you throw Doris at me?” he asks, still vaguely disoriented. Lottie has apparently already left because she doesn’t answer. Doris is seemingly content to remain perched on his stomach, humming softly to herself. “Your sister is a nightmare,” he tells her confidingly. She just giggles and starts playing with his hair.

By the time Louis gets Doris returned to her panicked nanny and himself dressed and downstairs, Lottie is holding court in the breakfast room. She and Fizzy are entrenched on one side of the enormous table, nearly hidden by stacks of papers, books, and plates full of half-eaten food. Phoebe and Daisy are attempting to eat their breakfast on the other end of the table, intermittently having to shield their plates from the avalanche of papers whenever Lottie or Fizzy reaches for something from one of the piles.

“What is going on here?” Louis asks, bewildered.

“We’ve gotten our invitation!” Fizzy chirps brightly.

“Invitation?” Lottie ducks around a book to glare at him like this is the most foolish thing she has ever heard.

“To the palace? Louis, you were at the prince’s birthday ball when they announced this. It was only a few days ago, have you already forgotten?”

“Uh...”

“They’re choosing a girl to marry him! One of us could be a princess!” Fizzy says, eager to inform.

“Oh. Right. Why does this mean I need to be awake?”

“You’re doing our gowns,” Lottie says absentmindedly, re-absorbed in her book.

“Am I now?”

“Oh, Lou, you have to! Your designs are the nicest in the whole kingdom.”

“Flattery will get you nowhere, Fizzy.”

“Louis don’t be awful. We need your help!”

“You could actually _ask_ , Lottie.”

“ _Fine,_ ” Lottie sets her book down firmly and looks at him faux earnestly. “Louis. Beloved brother. Will you please help your sisters not look like dowdy country nobility in front of the most eligible bachelor in the kingdom?” Louis rolls his eyes.

“Fine. But that is _all_ I’m doing,” he says firmly.

“Of course,” Lottie says, in a way that it’s clear this is not all he will be doing. Louis sighs and starts assembling his own plate.

“What is all of this anyway?” Lottie doesn’t answer.

“It’s going to be a contest,” Daisy says, after a moment. “They’re studying.”

“And why do I have to be here?” Lottie sighs through her nose and slams her book shut.

“Louis we’re trying to concentrate.”

“You woke me up!”

“Go design. We only have three months.” Louis drops his face to the table and groans, then groans again because he’s accidentally gotten eggs on his forehead.

\---

Louis doesn’t _love_ thinking about the fact that one day he’s going to have to take over for his mother. For one thing, it means thinking about getting married, which is stressful in and of itself. He can barely imagine finding a man he wants to spend the rest of his life with, let alone a man who is also high-ranking and interested in other men. Finding a man who is all of that and willing to brave the many backwards-thinking members of the gentry who don’t believe that men should marry other men seems well nigh impossible. For another, Louis really does not feel prepared for the day-to-day duties he will need to perform. Lottie was always much cleverer in lessons and Fizzy was better with managing the estate. It’s not that Louis thinks he’s terrible at all of it, he’s decent with the networking aspects at court and enjoys helping the local industry flourish, but it’s intimidating. Lottie and Fizzy are most likely going to get married and move away, have their own households to deal with. His mother will eventually want to retire. Louis doesn’t like to think about it. Designing formal court wear, on the other hand, is something Louis feels confident about.

The designing started as a fluke. Louis had always been interested in sketching, starting out of boredom in the corners of his mother’s meetings as a child, and as he got older and gained several sisters, he had to learn more about formal court attire so he could help them get ready for balls and other appearances. He started drawing dresses at fourteen, occasionally sewing some accessories or casual clothing when lessons got too boring, or repairing torn trousers so he wouldn’t get in trouble for climbing trees (again). It was an enjoyable hobby, but hadn’t developed into anything more until fairly recently.

Louis’ family, as a rule, tried to patronize local businesses whenever possible. This generally didn’t cause any problems, Doncaster is a small but prosperous marquisate and attracts talented artists and artisans from around the kingdom. Unfortunately, there was one exception. Although there were several competent weavers and seamstresses, the tailor left much to be desired. She had once been quite skilled, but was getting on in years and no longer produced the most consistent work. No one wanted to ask the woman to retire from a job she was still so passionate about, and the other two or three tailors in the area were too young and inexperienced to produce quality court clothing. This came to a head two days before Lottie’s debut ball three years ago, when it was discovered the tailor had forgotten to design and commission her dress. Lottie was in a panic, convinced she was going to have to meet the queen in a day dress from last year instead of something new and fashionable. Louis, mostly to get her to stop sitting on the main staircase and wailing in agony, set his portfolio of sketches down in her lap and then retreated. With some cajoling from her mother Lottie agreed to use one of the designs, and with a great deal of overtime pay to six seamstresses from an extremely stressed out Louis, the first Louis Tomlinson original was created.

Lottie’s dress was a surprising hit, and soon Louis was flooded with commission orders from other young nobles. He started training with the tailor in his spare time to improve his skills, and hired his own assistant, an enterprising blacksmith’s daughter/aspiring designer named Eleanor, to help him fulfill orders. Louis loved it: he enjoyed designing dresses and the extra income helped revive several struggling charities around Doncaster. The only downside was that his sisters (well, Lottie) expected custom dresses on the cutting edge of fashion from him on next to no notice. He didn’t mind helping them, but,

“It would have been nice to be _asked_ rather than _told_ ,” Louis mutters to himself as he opens the door to his workroom.

“What are you whispering about?” Eleanor asks, already perched on one of the tables and comparing fabric scraps.

“We’ve been given a decree by Queen Lottie,” Louis responds, peering over her shoulder. “Oh good, the new silk’s come in.”

“Yes it has, just in time. And didn’t you start drawing after the prince’s birthday ball?”

“That was for something else. I didn’t know they’d want to marry him.”

“He’s a prince, of course they want to marry him,” Eleanor says, bemused. Louis makes a face.

“They’ve never even met him.”

“I repeat, he’s a prince. He’s supposed to be nice, and he’s quite good looking. Where is the downside?”

“He is nice,” Louis says, absent-mindedly. “I think the blue will be good for Lottie, the lilac for Fizzy.”

“That’s what I was thinking, too,” Eleanor says slowly. “I didn’t know you had met the prince, Louis.”

“What?”

“When did you meet him?”

“Uh. Just, around, you know.” Eleanor stares him down. She is unfairly good at this.

“I met him at his birthday ball. I may have been hiding,” Louis mutters.

“Of course you were. Wait, does that mean he was also hiding?”

“Maybe? I’m not sure, actually, I didn’t ask.”

“What was he like?” she asks, fascinated.

“He was nice, like I said.” Eleanor raises an eyebrow and gestures for him to continue. “We have a lot of work to do, El.”

“I will sit on the fabric if you don’t start talking.”

“You are the worst friend.” Eleanor makes a ‘keep talking’ gesture. “I don’t know. He was sweet. Really funny. Charming. I only talked to him for a couple hours.”

“A couple _hours_!” Louis groans and drops his head into his hands. “When were you going to tell me about this! I thought we were friends!”

“We _were_ ,” Louis mutters.

“And now I find out you are having all these secret meetings with the prince!”

“One secret meeting.”

“Was it really romantic? Are you cranky because _you_ want to marry him?”

“I’m not cranky! And he’s straight!” Eleanor waves her hand. _Details, details._

“I’m going to get to the bottom of this. Did you...” Louis throws a pincushion at her and retreats from the room.

\---

The north tower of the castle is drafty, damp, and smells vaguely of rot, but it’s also free of inquisitive best friends and demanding sisters.

 _The things I have been driven to_ , Louis thinks mournfully. There’s a slightly warped table and chair over by the window, but Louis is refusing to sit on them. It’s mostly because they look like they could collapse at any minute, but also partly for the added drama drawing on the floor in one’s own castle lends the situation. He’s not actually getting anything done anyway; Eleanor’s words keep going around and around in his head.

It’s just a strange situation. Meeting Harry at the party and talking to him all evening: it had felt almost like a dream. A strange, one time occurrence that didn’t have any bearing on the real world. It’s not like Louis hadn’t thought about it since it happened, he had. He may or may not have come home and immediately sketched out some suits that he thought would bring out Harry’s eyes. That’s normal designer behavior, though. Not anything _romantic._ Louis had possibly thought more about it than the brief conversation actually warranted. But what he had thought about was Just Harry meeting Just Louis. He hadn’t thought about how Harry is the prince, or about how Harry is looking for a wife to save him from a curse. He _definitely_ hadn’t considered the fact that Harry and Lottie might end up getting married. So Louis is (maybe, possibly) avoiding Eleanor and his sisters and pouting the tiniest bit. Although he succeeds in eluding most of the inhabitants of the castle, there is one person who knows all of his hiding places.

“Louis, are you up here?” his mother calls from the bottom of the stairs.

“Yes,” he yells back, resigned to the interruption. The marchioness ascends gracefully, eyeing Louis’ workspace with mild distaste.

“I don’t see how you can focus up here,” she says. As if in agreement, the shutter bangs open and lets in a blast of cold, damp air.

“It’s quieter than downstairs.”

“I’m fairly certain a jousting tourney is quieter than downstairs.” Louis’ lips quirk up in a small smile. Johannah perches carefully on the rickety table and refastens the shutter. “I’ll leave you to your work in a moment, I just wanted to make sure that you really don’t mind doing the dresses for Lottie and Fizzy. I know Charlotte sometimes demands rather than asks.”

“Of course I’m going to help them. It’s a huge event.”

“You’re a good big brother, boobear.” Louis rolls his eyes so he doesn’t look _too_ pleased with this compliment. “Eleanor’s looking for you, by the way. Something about Baroness Rebecca’s gown for her daughter’s wedding?”

“Thanks. I’ll go find her in a bit.” Johannah ruffles his hair gently on her way back toward the stairs.

“Don’t hide out for too long.”

“I won’t,” he promises. Louis finishes the preliminary sketch he’s working on and then goes to find Eleanor. _Never a dull moment, at least,_ he thinks.

\---

Harry is retrospectively very glad Taylor forced him to do something enjoyable and stop worrying for a bit. Three months seems like a long time, but it goes by very quickly when you are attempting to plan an event for over eighty people and counting. The queen is ostensibly in charge and the king helps out when he can, but they have quite a few other duties keeping them busy. Gemma’s been forbidden from going on any dragon-hunting expeditions for the next eight weeks, so she’s lurking around the castle crankily. She isn’t much help with planning, though. She has a lot to do as the heir to the throne, especially since she’s hardly ever in the capital. On a day-to-day basis, it’s really Cara, James and Kendall who are in charge of making arrangements for the contest. When the queen is unavailable, they come to Harry with their questions. Well, James and Kendall do. Cara has figured out by this point that Harry is more likely to respond with a panicked stare than anything helpful. She just bypasses him and makes the decision herself. Harry has taken to kidnapping Zayn and hiding in various seldom-used parts of the palace to avoid everyone. Zayn’s not thrilled with this development.

"I was actually doing something," Zayn says, vaguely annoyed.

"You were just staring off into space."

"Exactly. You don't understand, you aren't a mirror." Harry is pretty sure Zayn is making this entire thing up, but he peers at him closely anyway.

"Really? Should I bring you back?" Zayn rolls his eyes.

"It's fine. What did you want, anyway?"

"I'm in hiding."

"Again? Or should I say still?"

"Hey, don't be mean to me!"

“Some of us have real problems,” Zayn says with his signature blend of drama and ambiguity. “Haven’t you got a meeting today with a tailor?”

“I don’t know,” Harry answers glumly. He’s lost track of his schedule, a bit. It’s not that he doesn’t show up for things on purpose, it’s more that he’s just got _so much_ to do right now. It all gets a bit overwhelming and sometimes he doesn’t realize he’s missed something until an aggrieved Kendall shows up to drag him off by the elbow. “How do you know, anyway?”

“Liam told me,” Zayn says, a faint blush staining his cheeks. _I should have known_ , Harry thinks. Zayn is much better at being alone now that he’s fairly sure they aren’t all going to up and abandon him, but he still spends an inordinate amount of time with Liam. Even when Zayn is cranky and pouting in the corner of the mirror, asking to be left alone, he won’t turn down Liam’s company.

“I’ve already met with a tailor. How many suits can I possibly need?” Harry complains.

“I miss being able to change clothes,” Zayn sighs wistfully. Harry wrinkles his nose. Zayn is good to hide out with because he’s always free, but his company comes with certain disadvantages. Most notably, he has a slight problem with one-upmanship. Harry understands that being trapped in a mirror is probably not terribly enjoyable, but still. Harry has problems, too. He’s _cursed_ ; he probably has less than a year to live. Zayn could carry on a little less when Harry is trying to complain.

“Changing clothes is overrated.”  
“Says you. You’d be naked all the time if you were allowed.”  
“Not _all _the time,” Harry mutters. He does absolutely hate clothes fittings, though. It’s just an interminable amount of time being treated as a pincushion and hissed at for moving too much. He can’t even whine about it properly, Taylor and Gemma will just roll their eyes and mutter about how much more annoying being sewn into a ball gown is.__  
“You try standing in loads of heavy fabric and dancing around in high-heeled shoes for ages, then come complain to me,” Gemma snaps. Harry doesn’t point out that he _has_ actually danced in high-heeled shoes. It was in his glitter boots phase that his mother called an end to after his growth spurt.  
“You already tower over everyone, darling. The heels aren’t helping.” Gemma’s right, anyway, they weren’t terribly comfortable for dancing.  
He almost thinks he would prefer a ball gown fitting, though. At least gowns are pretty and, most of all, different from each other. There’s so much variety in color and style and fabric, while suits are all boringly similar. Harry doubts complaining about this will get him any sympathy from Zayn “I’ve been trapped in the same outfit for longer than you’ve been alive,” though.  
Before Harry can change the subject to something Zayn can’t out-complain him in, James pokes his head around the corner.  
“I’ve tried to give you as long as possible, Haz. You really need to start moving if you don’t want to keep the tailor waiting,” James says. Harry sighs and drops his head back against the wall. _I can’t even hide properly._  
\---  
Harry slumps down the hallway after James, waiting until the last possible minute to put on his princely façade.

__“He’s set up to measure in your chambers. You have two hours and then Kendall will come fetch you to approve place settings.”_ _

__“Okay,” Harry says, fighting the urge to sit down on the floor and throw a tantrum. The last time they asked him about place settings, he made the foolish error of asking why all the options were nearly identical. Kendall looked at him, aghast, for nearly a full minute before explaining the apparently massive differences between the three settings. Harry supposes you can add formal dinner etiquette to the seemingly endless list of things he just doesn’t _get_. Maybe the intensity with which he is dreading what comes after the fitting will make it go by faster?_ _

__James deposits Harry outside the royal children’s wing of the palace before rushing off to whatever he’s doing next._ _

__“Be good!” he calls over his shoulder._ _

__“I always am!” Harry yells back, smiling in spite of his frustration. He wanders through his chambers, unsure where exactly the person he’s supposed to be meeting is. It’s awfully quiet. “Hello? Is anyone here?” Something crashes to the ground in the next room and Harry winces as he heads toward the sound. “Are you all right?”_ _

__“Yep. Fine,” a high, panicked voice calls back. Harry clears the doorway and sees a massive stack of fabric bolts with two legs sticking out the bottom._ _

__“Oh. Um, let me help you,” Harry says, picking up most of the fabric and going to put it on the low table in the center of the room. When he turns back around, he sees_ _

__“Louis?” Harry asks, confused. Louis is clutching a length of navy fabric to his chest and blushing._ _

__“Hello, Harry. Um, your majesty?”_ _

__“Harry’s fine,” Harry says, smiling. “What are you doing here?”_ _

__“Uh. I’ve been hired to make you a suit?”_ _

__“Oh.”_ _

__“If that’s…okay?”_ _

__“Yeah, yeah. Sorry,” Harry says, shaking his hair out a bit to try and clear his head. “It’s great. I just, I didn’t know that you did this?”_ _

__“Design? Yeah, I do, a bit.”_ _

__“That’s amazing!”_ _

__“You haven’t even seen anything I’ve done,” Louis says, grinning._ _

__“I’m sure it’s really good, though. Otherwise my mother wouldn’t have hired you. How did she hear about you?” Harry says, and then winces. “Or, is this like really common knowledge? I try to keep up with fashion but half the time I don’t have any idea what I’m talking about. I’m sorry if you’re like really famous and I just…” Louis starts laughing._ _

__“Don’t worry, I’m not really famous. I may have sent in some designs to the queen. I wanted to see you again,” Louis says, then immediately wants to smack himself in the face. _What the hell, Louis._ He’s about to backtrack, but Harry is smiling rather than looking massively creeped out, so he lets it go._ _

__“Really? I didn’t think I’d made that big of an impression,” Harry says, ducking his head shyly._ _

__“I don’t meet a lot of princes who hide from their own parties,” Louis teases._ _

__“Do you meet a lot of princes who show up for their own parties?”_ _

__“Not much of that either.” They stop talking for a moment, trailing off and smiling at each other silently. Louis shakes himself after a minute. “I only have you for a couple hours; we should probably get started.”_ _

__“Right. Um, should I just…”_ _

__“Just stand there by the table,” he says, whipping out a measuring tape. “Let’s start with your shoulders.”_ _

__Approximately three minutes later, Harry is trying to stand very still and not fidget or blush. It’s much more difficult than it was with the stuffy older man who barked at him for growing too quickly or the pretty girl from last week who couldn’t stop giggling long enough to get accurate measurements. Louis is just so _close_. Do they normally stand this close? Or look this focused? Louis will flick his eyes up to Harry’s face occasionally, presumably to gauge his comfort level, but otherwise, he seems almost unaware that Harry is there. Harry can’t seem to remember what he normally does with his hands. He can tell he’s turned his feet in but he doesn’t want to move them and draw Louis’ attention. But is it more obvious that he’s _not_ moving them? Just as he decides he should definitely move them, he hears a door swing shut._ _

__“Louis?”_ _

__“Back here,” Louis calls, distractedly._ _

__“This place is enormous, I nearly…Oh.” The girl cuts herself off when she sees Harry, blushing and curtseying gracefully. “I’m sorry, your majesty. I didn’t realize you were here already. I’ve got the book, Lou. You were right, it was under the carriage seat.”_ _

__“You’re a gem, love. Harry, this is Eleanor,” Louis says, putting down the measuring tape to take the sketchbook from her._ _

__“Oh. It’s nice to meet you,” Harry says, slightly stilted._ _

__“You, too. We’re so grateful for this opportunity,” she gushes. Harry fights down the odd urge to say something rude to her. Louis doesn’t _belong to him_ , or anything. It’s not Eleanor’s fault she’s all beautiful and female._ _

__“I’m sure it’s well deserved,” Harry responds politely. Eleanor glances over at Louis, who has his nose buried in the sketchbook and seems to be unable to hear them. They fall into an awkward silence._ _

__“Have you seen any of the designs?” Eleanor says, after a moment._ _

__“Not yet.” Another pause. Eleanor, somewhat unsubtly, elbows Louis._ _

__“Right. Sorry. Just noting down your measurements. I have a few things in mind but I’m not sure what sort of suit you’d prefer.”_ _

__“Can I look?” Harry asks._ _

__“Sure.” Louis smiles at him and hands him the book._ _

__“I’ll go see if we can get some tea in here,” Eleanor says, grinning at Louis. He grabs her elbow._ _

__“You don’t have to do that,” he whispers, glancing over to make sure Harry is still engrossed in the sketches and not listening._ _

__“Oh I _definitely_ do,” Eleanor whispers back. She pinches his wrist until he drops her arm. “I’ll leave you two alone for romance to blossom,” she adds, right in his ear. Louis blushes and glances frantically over at Harry, hoping the prince didn’t hear anything. Harry is looking at him with a small frown line between his eyebrows. _Great. So much for not coming across as a creep.__ _

__“Um. What do you think of the designs?” Louis asks, in a desperate bid to come off as somewhat professional. Harry’s frown clears._ _

__“They’re lovely. I especially like this sea-green one,” he says, holding up the sketch._ _

__“Oh,” Louis snatches the book back, horrified. “That wasn’t supposed to be in there. Sorry.” Harry pouts._ _

__“So you can’t make it for me?”_ _

__“If you…do you really like it? That was sort of just...something I threw together. It wasn’t supposed to be official or for anything, really.” _I drew it after I met you for the first time.__ _

__“I love it. Especially the tiny flowers. There aren’t enough tiny flowers in menswear these days.” Louis grins at him._ _

__“You don’t want something a little more princely?” he teases._ _

__“Everything I wear is princely,” Harry says with a wry grin. Louis laughs and Harry fights not to let his smile widen past socially acceptable bounds. He likes that Louis thinks he’s funny._ _

__“I’ll definitely make it for you, then.”_ _

__“Yay!” Harry says, clapping his hands like an excited toddler. “Do you have anything else like this?”_ _

__“I’m sure we can draw something up.”_ _

__By the time Eleanor returns from her (suspiciously long) tea run, Harry and Louis have agreed on five different suit designs._ _

__“Are you going to come back and show me your progress?” Harry asks. He leans into Louis on the couch they’ve migrated to and looks down at the sketchbook on Louis’ lap. Louis turns to respond but gets slightly distracted by how close Harry is. The pause goes on until Eleanor clears her throat and Louis jumps to his feet, startled._ _

__“Yes. I definitely will do that. Yes. Uh, we better get going. It was nice to see you again, Harry. Your majesty. Right. Goodbye,” Louis frantically gathers up his things and walks out of the room. Eleanor rolls her eyes._ _

__“Sorry about that. He’s a bit…well, you know.” Harry doesn’t know, but he nods politely anyway. “I’m sure we’ll see you soon,” Eleanor says, grinning at him. Harry nods again. Eleanor curtseys, muttering something that sounds like “quite the pair,” and then follows after Louis. Harry sinks back into the couch and stares after them. He figures he has a solid two minutes to try and untangle what just happened before someone comes to fetch him for his next appointment._ _

__Louis is just _really great_. He’s funny and sweet and he has this way of making Harry forget time is passing or that the world exists outside their little bubble. They’ve only spoken twice, probably for less than five hours total, and all Harry can think right now is _yes more of that, please._ The problem is, it’s just so late. Harry has so little time left, and so many commitments to fulfill. He has this selfish desire to burrow into this new friendship and just forget everything else, to actually enjoy something about his last few months. But he can’t. It’s not fair to his parents, or to Gemma, or to the kingdom, for him to just give up on finding the _perfect girl_ and breaking his curse. While Harry knows no such girl exists, he has to at least attempt to try, for everyone’s sake. It’s also not fair to Louis, who has his own obligations and his own life to live. Harry sighs and pushes it all to the back of his mind before going to find Kendall. He can make her job a bit easier, at least._ _

__\---_ _

__Lottie pounces on Louis the second he comes through the door._ _

__“How was it? What did he say? Did you tell him about me? Louis you weren’t embarrassing were you? The queen isn’t going to want us as family if you were horrible. Did you…”_ _

__“Lottie! I can’t actually tell you anything if you never stop talking.” She folds her arms and glares at him but shuts up. “And it was fine.” Lottie waits for a minute to make sure nothing more is forthcoming._ _

__“Fine. It was _fine_. Proper useless, you are.”_ _

__“Thanks,” Louis says drily. “I’m sure Harry will appreciate how nice you are to your family. He’ll probably want to marry you the first time you open your mouth and talk about how horrible your brother is.”_ _

__“Louis,” she whines. “Stop being rotten. I’m going to be nice in front of the prince, obviously. Don’t you want good things for me, your beloved sister?”_ _

__“Fizzy has just as good a chance of marrying him as you do and you don’t see her attacking me the second I come through the door.”_ _

__“Louis is home?” he hears someone shriek before Fizzy skids around the corner and grabs his arm. “What happened? How did it go? Did you really meet the prince?” Louis sighs. Sisters are the actual worst._ _

__“Yes, I met the prince. No, oddly enough, my _ridiculous sisters_ did not come up at a _suit fitting._ Honestly!” They both pout. Louis sighs. Why is this his life? Possessed by some deeply suppressed brotherly affection bubbling up right at the wrong moment, he continues talking. “But, I’m supposed to have weekly fittings with him for the next month to help him get ready for the contest.” Lottie looks like Christmas has come early and Fizzy seems like she might actually pass out. Louis is regretting every last shred of love in his heart._ _

__“You’re going to see him...four more times?” Fizzy whispers, transfixed._ _

__“Yes. The queen’s assistant asked me to help sort out his wardrobe, in addition to making some new suits, so he’s ready for the contest.”_ _

__“Are you qualified for that?” Lottie asks skeptically._ _

__“Wow, thanks for the confidence, darling sister.”_ _

__“That’s not what I meant, Lou! I was just surprised.” She rolls her eyes and then mutters, “But congratulations. That will be really good for your career, or whatever,” begrudgingly. Louis chuckles._ _

__“I am actually fairly excited. This could lead to lots of new commissions for me. You two know I love designing dresses for you and your friends, but this gives me a chance to show off my ability to do menswear, too.”_ _

__“But you’ll talk us up, right?” Fizzy asks, focusing in on what’s truly important. “You’ll mention us to the prince? And introduce us once the contest starts and we move into the palace?” Louis sighs._ _

__“I suppose.” He pretends to be annoyed when they both hug him._ _

__\---_ _

__He’s barely extricated himself from Lottie and Fizzy and made it back to his workroom when Eleanor launches her own attack. He had foolishly been lulled into a false sense of security when she left him alone in the carriage ride home, keeping her questions to the logistics of organizing the next month._ _

__It turns out, though, that she was simply waiting for privacy. She turns to him with a truly terrifying smile before he can even settle in. He briefly considers running for it but Eleanor has maneuvered herself between him and the door. She’s also faster than him and not afraid to kick his legs out from under him, so flight is useless anyway._ _

__“So,” Eleanor says, radiating smugness. “How was your definitely all business meeting with your one-hundred percent platonic pal Prince Harry?”_ _

__“It _was_ all business!”_ _

__“Totally. I agree. I definitely didn’t come back to him practically in your lap and staring at you adoringly.”_ _

__“He wasn’t _practically in my lap_.”_ _

__“Come on, Louis. I’m trying to live vicariously through your epic love story. Give me something!”_ _

__“We don’t have an epic love story,” he mutters._ _

__“I would believe you more if you weren’t blushing and refusing to look at me right now.”_ _

__“Eleanor,” Louis whines. She rolls her eyes._ _

__“Fine I’m stopping. I just think you two are cute, that’s all.”_ _

__“Yeah, well, it won’t be that cute when he marries one of my sisters,” Louis says quietly, still looking down at his lap. Eleanor sighs and shoves Louis over so she can sit next to him._ _

__“Way to ruin my fun.”_ _

__“I’m sorry,” Louis says, only pouting a little bit._ _

__“Hey, you know I’m just teasing, right?” she says, voice earnest._ _

__“No, I know,” Louis laughs. “I never take you seriously, El.” She pokes him in the side but doesn’t stop cuddling him. You wouldn’t think it from how bony she is, but Eleanor is actually a fantastic cuddler. Her hair is very soft and smells nice and she’s good at keeping her elbows to herself. “I just…ugh, it’s so stupid. I’ve met him, like, twice, you know?” She nods and gestures for him to continue. “And it’s not like…I don’t think anything is going to _happen_ between us. Like, obviously. I mean, he’s probably straight and definitely has to find someone to marry in less than a year. And, I mean, he’s a prince. Even if he did like boys, he could do way better than me.”_ _

__“Please, babe. You are a total catch.” Louis rolls his eyes. Eleanor pinches him._ _

__“Hey, none of that. You’ve super gorgeous, and you have a title! You’re a completely fantastic designer and a good brother, as much as you like to pretend you aren’t. Plus, you’re mildly amusing, I suppose.”_ _

__“I’m hilarious,” Louis says, offended._ _

__“There’s my conceited little boobear.”_ _

__“Please don’t call me that. I should never have let you meet my mother.”_ _

__“I don’t know how you would have avoided that considering I’m your assistant,” she says. “But all joking aside, Louis. If you like him, you should go for it. At least feel things out a bit, you know.” Louis smirks. “Honestly, I’m trying to be serious. Can you stop with your filthy mind for one second?”_ _

__“Unfortunately I can’t do that, Eleanor.” She flicks his forehead._ _

__“ _Anyway_ , as I was _saying._ From where I was standing, it looks like your interest is not entirely one-sided.” Louis makes a face. “All I’m saying is, he didn’t look too thrilled when I came in. Either time.” She pauses and tilts her head to the side. “Maybe you should make it clear that I’m not at all interested in you. I don’t want the prince thinking I have terrible taste in men.” Louis glares at her for this but she just ignores him. “Maybe Prince Harry is not as straight as everyone thinks. Hey,” she perks up, “maybe you’re his soul mate!”_ _

__“Oh, yeah. That’s obviously it,” Louis says sarcastically._ _

__“You could be his true love’s kiss! That would be so cute! Picture the scene: the prince, draped in a beautiful suit, designed by you of course, lies sleeping. Eyes closed in peace, hand clasped around a single rose.” Her voice gets increasingly loud and dramatic as she gets wrapped up in this absurd fantasy. Louis is torn between burying his face in his hands and watching her in fascination. “The court is filled with mourners! ‘Who can wake our beloved prince from his slumber?’ they cry.” Eleanor exclaims, standing up on the chair. “‘Why it is his true love, Louis, riding in to the court on his valiant steed!’”_ _

__“Why am I riding a horse indoors?” Louis calls up to her._ _

__“I am here to save the prince,” she continues, in an incredibly insulting approximation of his voice._ _

__“I do not sound like that,” Louis says, offended._ _

__“Beloved!” she fake-swoops down on an imaginary Harry and starts making obnoxious kissing sounds. Louis considers pushing her off the chair, but he does actually have some self-preservation instincts. Last time he crossed Eleanor, she ripped the bottom hems out of half his trousers and also told his mother what he did. He still wasn’t sure if tripping over his own feet for an entire ball or being scolded by his mother for hurting Eleanor’s feelings was more traumatic._ _

__“Are you quite finished?” Louis asks instead. “We do actually have work to do.”_ _

__“Yes all right,” Eleanor sighs, dropping on top of him without looking. One of these days he isn’t going to catch her. That will teach her to stop tattling to his mother. Ha._ _

__\---_ _

__Harry gets dismissed by Kendall after twenty minutes because she claims he’s “Just impossible today.” Harry can’t even be upset at this; he’s too excited. Barely five minutes after Louis left, James came to find Harry. The queen, concerned that Harry wouldn’t look his best throughout the process of choosing his bride, decided to take the decision out of Harry’s hands. Normally, Harry would be frustrated and a little insulted that his mother doesn’t trust him to dress himself. But, he can’t bring himself to be upset when the person she chose to consult on his wardrobe is Louis._ _

__Apparently, Louis has been trying to break into the formal menswear scene for a while. He was quite happy to agree to not only design several suits for the prince, but also have the final say on Harry’s clothing and accessories for the eight weeks the contest lasts. Harry honestly doesn’t particularly care what Louis puts him in. He’s been dreading this horrible soul mate matching thing for so long, expecting it to be unambiguously awful. It will be amazing to have a friend with him through the whole thing. And, he trusts Louis’ taste. Harry adored all the suits Louis had designed for him, and if he can help Louis with his career, that’s an excellent bonus._ _

__So, Harry, for once, doesn’t particularly care that Kendall is annoyed with him or that his mother is babying him. He’s just happy._ _

__With his afternoon uncharacteristically open, Harry decides to go find Taylor. She’s taken to sitting in one of the balconies overlooking the grand ballroom. It’s a fairly entertaining place to sit; preparations for the contest are well underway with only four weeks left to go and there’s always someone dashing around frantically. Today, Cara is directing a small army of housemaids in a napkin folding demonstration._ _

__“Bit creepy, you lurking up here,” Harry teases, sitting down next to Taylor and slipping his legs through the slats of the balcony. Taylor rolls her eyes and doesn’t answer. “Come on,” Harry whines. “Pay attention to me.”_ _

__“You’re awfully perky today,” she says, raising an eyebrow. “What’s got you all excited?”_ _

__“Guess,” Harry says, grinning._ _

__“I’m not going to _guess_ you child.”_ _

__“Spoilsport,” Harry pouts._ _

__“Are you seventeen or seven?” Taylor asks, but she’s smiling a bit so Harry counts it as a win._ _

__“So you know how I’ve been dreading this whole thing?”_ _

__“I’m aware,” Taylor says drily._ _

__“Well I’m not anymore.” She waits for him to continue, but he just looks at her expectantly._ _

__“So we’re playing that game, are we?”_ _

__“Taylor, come on,” Harry whines. “You won’t guess so I have to build some suspense.”_ _

__“You’re annoying when you’re happy.” Harry sticks his tongue out at her. “Fine,” she sighs, turning to face him a little more. “I’ll guess. You’re happy because...roses have all simultaneously died out and you’re safe?”_ _

__“Not exactly,” Harry giggles. “I saw Louis again!” he tells her, unable to wait any longer._ _

__“Who’s Louis?” Taylor asks, wrinkling her forehead in confusion. Harry looks at her in surprise._ _

__“You know, Louis. The boy from my birthday ball?” When Taylor just continues to look at him blankly, Harry realizes with a start that he hadn’t told her about the meeting. Everything had been so busy with the announcement of the contest and the preparations that he just...hadn’t thought to tell her._ _

__“What boy?”_ _

__“Um. Well, I may have met this boy at my birthday ball? When I was hiding?” Taylor lifts one eyebrow and gestures for him to continue. “He’s just...he’s really great. He’s so funny and smart, and he’s a really talented designer. That’s why I met him today, he’s going to be designing some suits for me.”_ _

__“Right,” Taylor says, a little stiffly. Harry doesn’t notice, too wrapped up in explaining Louis to a new person._ _

__“Anyway, we talked for ages today and it was amazing, but also kind of sad because I thought he was going to leave after and I wouldn’t ever see him again, you know? But then, I found out that mom’s asked him to consult on my wardrobe for the contest! It’s perfect, actually, because his sisters are going to be here anyway, and he’s designing their gowns, too. So, he’ll be here anyway but he can just help out with my clothes too.”_ _

__“That does seem convenient.”_ _

__“Yeah! Plus, I’m going to see him once a week for the next four weeks for fittings and stuff. The suits he’s designed for me are so lovely, Taylor, I can’t wait for you to see them. He’s, like, super talented.”_ _

__“I’m sure.”_ _

__“He’s a Marquess, too. I honestly don’t know how he finds time to do everything.”_ _

__“He sounds great,” Taylor snaps. Harry looks at her, surprised._ _

__“Why do you sound angry? Aren’t you excited for me?”_ _

__“Obviously I’m _excited_ for you. I just don’t understand why this is the first I’m hearing about this,” she says, voice sharp._ _

__“I just didn’t think about it,” Harry says, cautiously. “Things have been a little busy, you know?”_ _

__“So busy you couldn’t take the time to inform your best friend that you apparently met a boy and ‘talked to him for ages’?”_ _

__“It’s not like you’ve been completely forthcoming with me lately either, Taylor. You didn’t tell me my mother was going to ambush me with her ridiculous plan in front of half the kingdom! You didn’t even mention something’s going on with you and Cara and you keep changing the subject whenever I try to ask you about it. And what’s got you in such a terrible mood, anyway?” Harry snaps back._ _

__“What’s got me in such a _terrible mood_ is that you’re apparently keeping all kinds of things from me now,” she says, ignoring his dig._ _

__“Okay,” Harry says, pulling his legs out from the balcony and standing up. “I thought you would be excited for me but clearly you’re just determined to be horrible today. Bye.”_ _

__“ _You’re_ determined to be horrible!” Taylor calls after him. This, strangely enough, almost makes Harry waver. Taylor must be really upset about something if her comebacks are that weak. His irritation outweighs his desire to be a good friend at the moment, though, so he leaves without looking back._ _

__\---_ _

__The problem with fighting with Taylor is that Harry isn’t very good at being alone. He’s so isolated in the palace that it’s hard to make a lot of friends, so he compensates by spending nearly all his time with the ones he has. Fortunately, Niall’s nearly always up for doing something._ _

__Since Caroline brought Niall to the palace for the first time, over a year ago now, he’s spent an inordinate amount of time there. He technically still lives with his parents, but he’s at the castle so frequently that he has his own room there. That’s where Harry finds him, plucking away at his lute and humming quietly to himself._ _

__Niall scoots over, patting the space next to him on the bed, but doesn’t say anything when Harry comes in. Harry takes the proffered cuddles, leaning his head against Niall’s leg and listening to the sweet high sound of the lute. Niall keep playing, transitioning from loose unstructured runs into actual songs. Harry closes his eyes and just drifts for a bit, but after a few minutes Niall stops playing and tugs on one of Harry’s curls._ _

__“Watch this,” he says, readjusting the lute. Harry sits up obediently, eyes fixed on him. At first, nothing seems different. Niall starts playing, a vaguely familiar song that Harry can’t quite place. Almost immediately, though, he’s distracted from the tune. Bright, colorful bubbles start slipping through the front of the lute. Slow and small at first, then gaining speed, tripping over each other and around Niall’s fingers. Harry watches, fascinated, as they float up toward the ceiling and pop, only to be replaced by new bubbles. When Niall stops playing, they disappear abruptly._ _

__“What was that? How did you do that?”_ _

__“Magic,” Niall says, laughing a little. “How do you think, Haz?”_ _

__“I didn’t,” Harry pauses, not wanting to insult Niall. “I, erm, didn’t think you could do much magic. That looked complicated.” Niall shrugs._ _

__“It’s not, really.” Harry blinks at him._ _

__“You never do magic.”_ _

__“I know,” Niall says. His voice is easy but he still isn’t looking at Harry. After a minute, Niall continues. “I got in a bit of trouble, at home.”_ _

__“What, recently?” Harry says, confused. Niall laughs._ _

__“No, not recently. It’s why I got sent here, with Caroline.” Harry nods encouragingly. Niall rolls his eyes a bit and chuckles. “My parents are a bit serious about this whole magic thing, you know.” Harry does know; a bit serious is an understatement. Niall’s mother and father are two of the top magicians in the kingdom, and Niall’s related to half the magical beings in Arixia. He comes from a very old, very somber magical family. “I don’t exactly fit in. I’m, well, not.”_ _

__“Serious,” Harry says, teasing._ _

__“Yeah, for a start,” Niall smirks. “But, you know. I got in trouble a lot with my tutors. Messing about in lessons, things like that. I’d do loads of spells, but nothing challenging. Definitely nothing I was assigned.” He starts playing the lute again, and Harry isn’t sure whether he should push or not. Niall hardly ever talks about personal things. It’s not that he’s secretive or anything, he just doesn’t mention his past. He’s always looking forward, always laughing, always optimistic._ _

__“Why?” Harry tries._ _

__“Dunno,” Niall shrugs. “Guess I was just bored. If you liked the thing with the bubbles, you’ll really enjoy this.” Niall turns his own hair lilac and Harry takes it as the blatant subject change it apparently is._ _

__Niall and Harry spend the rest of the afternoon on less serious matters, and Harry (almost) completely forgets about his earlier fight with Taylor._ _

__\---_ _

__The week drags by. It’s getting down to the wire and decisions have to be made for the contest. Harry has been cut out of most of them. Kendall’s decided he’s too indecisive and James has realized that the queen and Harry almost invariably have different opinions on things (he goes with what the queen wants). Although Harry definitely doesn’t miss being involved, it’s a bit stressful to only be vaguely aware the shape his life is going to take a month from now._ _

__It’s also boring. Nearly everyone is busy with preparations and just look at him like he’s a mildly irritating puppy if he tries to speak to them about anything non-contest related. Harry spends a lot of time fantasizing about dramatically refusing to participate but in the end he just can’t let everyone down that way._ _

__Taylor, at least, seems to have gotten over whatever she was angry about. She comes to apologize to Harry the next day, bringing a plate of cookies filched from the taste-testing table in the green salon._ _

__“So what would a person who is very sorry for being mean to her best friend say to get him to forgive her?” Taylor holds out the cookies placatingly and pouts at him a little. Harry looks at her over the top of his book._ _

__“I don’t know. You were pretty awful,” he says, chewing on his lip._ _

__“I know,” she sighs, hopping up on the windowsill next to him. “I’m just...stressed I guess. I’m sorry for taking it out on you.” Harry sighs and eats a cookie._ _

__“It’s okay. Just, please don’t again. Just, like, _talk to me_ about things.”_ _

__“I will,” she promises quickly. “Or, I’ll try anyway.” Harry rolls his eyes and she knocks into him a bit with her shoulder. “So about this Louis...”_ _

__\---_ _

__An unfortunate consequence of finally opening up to Taylor is that now she wants to _meet_ Louis._ _

__“Taylor I am an adult, not your nine year old son. You don’t need to screen my friends.”_ _

__“I’ll be cool I promise!” Harry gives her a look. “What?”_ _

__“Not helping with the whole mom impression. Anyway, if you meet him then Niall is going to want to meet him. Then Liam will think he needs to get involved and like _investigate his background_ or something like that and next thing I know Louis is heading for the hills on our fastest horse.”_ _

__“They haven’t met him either?” Taylor looks positively gleeful._ _

__“That is not the point!”_ _

__“Aww. This is serious! You want to keep him your little secret. Your secret crush.”_ _

__“I don’t have a crush on him,” Harry says, face flaming._ _

__“Oh yeah. _Definitely._ ”_ _

__“We’re just friends,” Harry mutters._ _

__“Now I have to meet him. Make sure he’s treating my little Hazza properly.”_ _

__“We’re the same age,” Harry complains. Taylor ignores him._ _

__“When are you seeing him again?”_ _

__“Two days,” Harry says reluctantly. “Then again on the next three Fridays.”_ _

__“Perfect. I’ll have plenty of time,” Taylor says, rather menacingly in Harry’s opinion._ _

__“You’re not going to, like...murder him or something, are you?”_ _

__“Why would I murder your little boyfriend?”_ _

__“He’s not my boyfriend,” Harry protests._ _

__“No, what I have planned for him is far more...complicated.” Taylor drops this conversational bomb, and then sweeps out of the room majestically like she’s on the way to meet the queen. Which, yikes, hopefully not. Harry is confident Taylor wouldn’t tell his mother about his whole liking boys thing, but he isn’t so sure she hasn’t cooked up some sort of scheme to horribly embarrass him. Taylor cooks up schemes frighteningly quickly._ _

__Two days later and Harry is pacing his large walk-in while nervously waiting for his appointment with Louis to begin. He’s half-convinced Taylor is going to suddenly leap out from behind one of his coats and he keeps checking to make sure Niall’s feet aren’t poking out from underneath his shelf of riding breeches. Harry may be getting slightly paranoid; he got here early to try and stave off any potential plot and being in the closet for so long has had a wearing effect._ _

__Louis arrives on time and apparently unscathed. Harry tries to look slightly less jumpy, leaning casually against one of his shoe racks. It tips over and Harry lands uncomfortably on a pile of the displaced footwear. _How could my boots betray me like this?__ _

__“Are you alright?” Louis asks, concerned. He reaches out a hand to help Harry up._ _

__“Fine,” Harry mutters, letting Louis pull him to his feet. He’s so focused on trying not to spontaneously combust from embarrassment that he doesn’t notice Louis looking him over carefully or the way his hands linger as they gently brush Harry’s shirt off. “Sorry. I’m a bit clumsy.”_ _

__“I’ve noticed. You nearly fell over the first time we met, too,” Louis says. His voice is teasing rather than mocking, like he’s trying to get Harry to smile._ _

__“Got tall too fast I guess,” Harry says, grinning down at Louis._ _

__“If only we could all have your problems,” Louis says wryly. Harry giggles._ _

__“You’re the perfect height,” Harry responds, just stopping himself from adding _for me._ Louis is still standing really close, hands slack against Harry’s chest and head tilted back to look up at him. It’s more than a little distracting. Harry doesn’t even notice someone else is in the room until he hears Taylor clear her throat. He and Louis leap apart and Harry nearly trips over a wayward shoe. Fortunately, Louis manages to grab his wrist before he falls over._ _

__“So,” Taylor says brightly. “You must be Louis.”_ _

__“That’s me,” Louis says, eyeing Taylor. He doesn’t let go of Harry’s wrist._ _

__“I’ve heard _so_ much about you.” Louis’ eyes dart briefly over to Harry, then back to Taylor._ _

__“Should I pop out?” someone stage-whispers into the ensuing awkward silence. Taylor glares at the corner bin where Harry’s piled his clothes that are ready to be donated to one of the capital’s charities. Harry fights the urge to lie down on top of his scattered shoes and cry. Why didn’t he check the bin? He should have checked the bin. Harry is fairly confident that the situation can’t get any more awkward but then Eleanor sticks her head into the walk-in._ _

__“There you are! Getting started without me? Oh,” she sees Taylor as she steps all the way into the room. “Hello.” Taylor looks between Eleanor and Louis in confusion. Harry goes to help Niall out of the bin. “I’m Eleanor, Lou...uh, the marquess’ assistant.”_ _

__“Taylor. It’s nice to meet you.” Eleanor, to her credit, smiles politely and curtseys, maintaining eye contact with Taylor even as Harry pulls too hard on Niall’s hand and trousers and shirts go flying everywhere._ _

__“I thought this was just going to be Harry and I,” Louis complains. Harry tries not to look too happy about this as he pulls out a blue cravat that has somehow wormed it’s way into his sleeve._ _

__“I was just coming to introduce myself,” Taylor says, recovering fairly smoothly from the complete disaster of a first meeting. “Why don’t I show Eleanor around the palace? Have you had a tour?” she says, turning to the other girl and completely ignoring Niall’s attempts to get her attention._ _

__“Not yet. Tour would be lovely,” Eleanor says, looping her arm through Taylor’s. Harry uses the polite goodbyes as a cover to hiss at Niall._ _

__“What the hell are you doing here?”_ _

__“I wanted to see your new friend! Taylor said I could as long as I was quiet!”_ _

__“Well you weren’t quiet!” The door shuts and Harry turns back around, pasting a bland smile on his face. “Where were we?”_ _

__“Going through your closet this week,” Louis says, suppressing laughter. “I should have some suits for you to try on next Friday.”_ _

__“Sounds great. Niall, what were you just saying? You want to catch Taylor before she gets too far?”_ _

__“Yeah,” Niall says sulkily. “You owe me details!” he whispers into Harry’s ear as he heads for the door. Harry bites back an ‘I owe you nothing’ as Louis awkwardly returns Niall’s enthusiastic hug._ _

__“So,” Louis says into the now uncomfortably silent room._ _

__“I’m so sorry,” Harry says._ _

__“It’s okay.”_ _

__“No. It’s really not. That was horrible. I don’t know what they were thinking. We don’t meet new people a lot. I’m sorry.”_ _

__“It’s really fine,” Louis says. “I live with six people who have a very poor sense of boundaries. Seven, if you count Eleanor. The only one with any decorum is my mother; I’ve no idea how she maintains it.” Harry smiles awkwardly but Louis can tell he isn’t actually feeling any better. “They just want to know about the other people in your life. Not that I’m _in your life_ or anything. Um. You know. I’m just...I’m not...”_ _

__“I’m glad you’re in my life, Louis,” Harry says, finally starting to relax. “It’s...I like talking to you.”_ _

__“Yeah,” Louis says, relieved. “You too.”_ _

__\---_ _

__Harry very sternly bans everyone from his second meeting with Louis._ _

__“That was appalling. I expected better from both of you.” He actually didn’t expect any better but the comment has the desired effect of making them look contrite._ _

__“How come you invited Taylor and not me?” Niall whines._ _

__“I didn’t _invite Taylor._ And keep your voice down; I don’t want Zayn or Liam hearing us.”_ _

__“It wasn’t Niall’s fault,” Taylor sighs. “I shouldn’t have let him find out about it.” Niall wrinkles his forehead like he can’t decide whether to be offended or relieved. Harry purses his lips._ _

__“Fine. Niall, don’t do it again. Taylor, we’re going for a walk.” Niall takes the out, slinking away for less tense quarters as Harry and Taylor head for the garden._ _

__“I’m sorry,” Taylor bursts out when they’ve barely cleared the gate. Harry shakes his head warningly and keeps walking. Once they’re a safe distance away he stops and turns on her._ _

__“Taylor.”_ _

__“I know,” she says miserably. “I didn’t mean for him to find out. He overheard me talking to Cara.”_ _

__“You told _Cara_? What the hell, Taylor?”_ _

__“Not about your crush,” Taylor starts, but Harry interrupts her._ _

__“It’s not a crush,” he says firmly. Taylor pretends she didn’t hear him and continues,_ _

__“Just about you having a new friend and being excited to see him. Just that I wanted to check him out and make sure he was a good guy!”_ _

__“Oh just that,” Harry says, sarcasm odd and heavy in his voice._ _

__“I’m sorry,” Taylor says, a little desperately._ _

__“Well it’s not okay!” Harry snaps. “This is...I already have to put up with this _stupid_ completely pointless contest. I’m going to spend the next two months trying desperately to convince my mother it’s all going to be okay, that I have even an ounce of chemistry with any of these girls. And then, after that, it’s just a waiting game until Emmaline gets bored and offs me.” Harry pretends not to notice that Taylor’s started crying, because if he does his resolve will crumble._ _

__“I’m sorry,” she says, and wipes tears away with the back of her hand. “But maybe this is a good thing, Harry?”_ _

__“What, you practically outing me to half the kingdom?” Taylor purses her lips but doesn’t argue at his exaggeration._ _

__“ _Louis_. Maybe he’s it. I wanted to see for myself. You guys seem to really like each other! Maybe he’s your soul mate.” Harry sighs and slumps forward a bit, body suddenly heavy._ _

__“Taylor, we’ve talked about this.”_ _

__“No. I’ve talked about this and you _haven’t listened._ ”_ _

__“I don’t want to have this conversation again,” Harry says. He tries to sound firm but he can hear his voice wavering. Taylor’s still crying, swiping angrily at her eyes like she’s annoyed with them for betraying her this way._ _

__“Just talk to your mother. Or Caroline. Or _anyone._ ”_ _

__“It’s not that simple. It would have come up by now, Taylor. If it was meant to be, it would have.”_ _

__“You don’t know that.”_ _

__“This is just the way it is, Taylor. Tough luck.”_ _

__“If you would just...”_ _

__“Drop it, okay?” Harry snaps. “Just drop it.” Taylor shakes her head at him and starts to say something. Harry blocks it out, leaves her crying and heads back to the palace._ _

__He briefly hesitates when he hears thunder rumble as he passes through the gates; he doesn’t want Taylor left out in the rain or anything. Harry sighs and slams his hand against the gate angrily. It’s so frustrating that he can’t just be _angry_. He knows what Taylor’s doing, knows she thinks she’s helping. Harry makes it inside just before the sky opens. He heads straight for his bed chamber, pushing the front-facing window open and pretending he isn’t watching to make sure Taylor gets back safely._ _

__Unfortunately, his lurking is slightly derailed by the birds. The combination of the open window and the cold rain means that Harry’s swarmed within minutes. Most of them just want to be out of the wet, but a few rather officious sparrows insist on perching on Harry’s shoulder and lecturing him about the overall poor quality of the local insects. The high chirrups turn grating quickly, and Harry fights the urge to push them off. If he can’t even be polite to some birds for ten minutes how is he going to get through eight weeks with sixty prospective brides?_ _

__Harry is vaguely considering sticking his head out the window in the hopes that the sparrows will get annoyed and leave when he hears his door open. He turns slowly, giving the tiny winged creatures time to flutter and adjust._ _

__“Why is your window open? It’s raining.”_ _

__“Is that what you wanted to talk to me about?”_ _

__“No,” Niall says, shuffling his feet. “What did Taylor say?”_ _

__“She didn’t blame you or anything,” Harry sighs. “Don’t worry.”_ _

__“That wasn’t...Look, I don’t totally understand what’s going on between you and Taylor; I never have. I just wanted to make sure you weren’t too upset.”_ _

__“I’m fine.” Niall looks a bit skeptical but doesn’t push._ _

__“If I make a shelter for the birds outside, can you tell them to go to it?”_ _

__“Could you?” Harry asks. One particularly determined sparrow has just gotten louder as Harry pays less attention to it. Niall grins and wiggles his fingers in anticipation. It’s sort of strange, watching him do magic. It’s so new and fascinating that Harry has to keep looking back and forth between Niall and the odd tiered structure growing outside his window._ _

__It takes him less than five minutes to build a cute Harry-sized birdhouse, and then Niall helps Harry coax the birds out of the room and down into it. Harry closes the window firmly as the last wren hops off the ledge for the brief flight, latching the shutters. Taylor can make her way back unobserved. Harry’s tired of babysitting._ _

__“Liam’s securing the second floor for visitors right now, want to go bother him?”_ _

__“Is he doing that thing where he tries to carry Zayn around and also look menacing in case he runs across any intruders?”_ _

__“Obviously.”_ _

__“Let’s go.”_ _

__\---_ _

__Harry sits Niall and Taylor down the morning of the next Friday, giving them both a stern look._ _

__“What are we not going to do today?”_ _

__“Hide so we can spy on Louis,” Niall says obediently. Taylor folds her arms and glares. Harry glares back._ _

__“Embarass you in front of your friend,” Taylor finally mutters, reluctant._ _

__“You’ve both seen him now, okay? You know he’s not some sort of rose-wielding assassin. Please leave me with the one infinitesimal shred of dignity I’ve managed to maintain and _stay away_.” Niall nods seriously, eyes wide. Taylor rolls her eyes._ _

__“I promise we won’t show up, okay? Is there anything else?” she asks, standing up._ _

__“I guess not,” Harry says to Taylor’s back. Niall hops up as well, clapping Harry on the shoulder._ _

__Harry had hoped his bad mood wasn’t obvious, but Louis takes one look at him and can tell something’s wrong._ _

__“Everything alright?” Louis asks, falsely casual as he drapes the half-finished suits over Harry’s settee._ _

__“Fine,” Harry says, forcing a smile. Louis smiles up at him briefly as he swings a jacket around Harry’s shoulders._ _

__“I don’t mean to pry, but I’m here if you want to talk about something.” Harry shakes his head miserably. All of this is just so _stupid_. He’s fighting with Taylor for ruining his time with Louis and then the fight itself is...also ruining his time with Louis._ _

__“Just a silly fight with Taylor.”_ _

__“Oh,” Louis says, looking down to check the fit of the jacket. “Do you want to talk about it?” Harry sighs._ _

__“Do you have that person who is just, like, totally convinced that they know how to live your life better than you?”_ _

__“Several of them,” Louis says, the corner of his mouth twitching up. In this case, he’s specifically thinking about Eleanor, who refused to come to this fitting. (“I’ll just be in the way!” “You’re my _assistant_.” “Have fun with your prince boyfriend!” Honestly.)_ _

__“Yeah. And, like, no matter what you do, they know how to do it better?” Harry continues._ _

__“Just because they were right that _one time_.”_ _

__“Exactly! And she makes it sound like my life is so easy and if I would just listen to her then I wouldn’t have any problems at all.”_ _

__“Mine does the same thing,” Louis says. He’s annoyed at how fond his voice sounds. “Eleanor knows absolutely everything and I’m just the poor mortal she puts up with because my life would fall apart without her.”_ _

__“Yeah, same,” Harry says gloomily._ _

__“So that’s what’s going on with Taylor?” Louis asks, falsely casual. He can practically feel Eleanor’s smirk from here. _Fishing for information are we?_ Whatever, he’s just being a good brother. If Harry’s taken, it’s better Lottie finds out now._ _

__“Sort of. It’s,” Harry pauses, not wanting to say _It’s about you._ “I’m just not ready for this contest thing, I guess. She thinks I should tell my mother, but I think that would just make everything worse.”_ _

__“It does seem a bit overwhelming to have to pick a wife in two months.”_ _

__“Exactly! I’m sure they’re all going to be perfectly nice girls, but what if I don’t meet someone? What if they all think I’m boring and weird?” Harry pouts down at Louis, who’s now adjusting one of the sleeves so it’s the proper length._ _

__“You’re not boring or weird,” Louis says, chuckling._ _

__“My mother is paying you to hang out with me, you have to say that.” Louis full-out guffaws at this, and Harry has to fight back his own smile. Making Louis laugh is the best thing._ _

__“Your mother is paying me to put clothing on you, not to talk to you. That’s all for free.” Louis smirks up at Harry from under his eyelashes._ _

__“Um, so where’s Eleanor today?” Harry asks, grasping for a subject change so Louis won’t notice he’s suddenly flustered. Louis rolls his eyes._ _

__“‘Busy,’ she says. Worst assistant in the world, honestly.” His voice still sounds fond, damn it._ _

__“You two seem close.”_ _

__“I suppose you could call it that,” Louis says with a wink. Harry’s stomach drops uncomfortably._ _

__“Oh are you, erm, seeing each other?”_ _

__“No,” Louis laughs. “I’m gay, Harry.” When Harry doesn’t immediately respond, Louis panics. “I just meant that she’s my best friend. Sort of. I mean, she’s the worst but I love her. For some reason.” _Shut up, Louis.__ _

__“Oh,” Harry says. “I’m...that’s. Yeah, best friends are good.”_ _

__“Yeah. Well, the suit looks good. So, I’ll see you next week.” Louis starts gathering his things, avoiding eye contact._ _

__“Do I need to change out of this so you can take it?”_ _

__“Just keep it, we’ll do alterations later. It doesn’t need that much fixing.” Louis hates how high and nervous his voice is. This whole day is a disaster and it is one hundred percent Eleanor’s fault. He’s going to make her feel so guilty when he gets home._ _

__“Louis, wait,” Harry says, grabbing at Louis’ wrist. Louis doesn’t turn back to look at him but he doesn’t pull his hand away either._ _

__“I really like spending time with you. I’m...I don’t know if you’ve told a lot of people? About you being gay, I mean. But I’m glad you told me.”_ _

__“I mean, it’s not a secret,” Louis says, still a little snappish._ _

__“I think you’re really brave,” Harry says sincerely. “That’s...people can be really horrible.”_ _

__“Yeah, sometimes,” Louis says, relaxing slightly. “But, what’s the other option? Hiding and lying?” Harry shrugs._ _

__“I guess. Anyway, I’m...honored I guess. That you feel like you can trust me. That’s a big thing.” Louis looks up at Harry: sweet, confusing Harry with his strange hangups and his curse and half the kingdom tripping over themselves to save him. Harry who’s wearing a suit Louis drew on a whim after meeting him once. Harry who is staring at him so earnestly while still holding his hand. It’s just...too much._ _

__“I’ll see you next week,” Louis says, pulling away. He doesn’t look back until he’s safely in his carriage, headed home._ _

__\---_ _

__Harry isn’t speaking to Taylor. It’s probably unfair to blame her for the unmitigated disaster of his last fitting, but Harry is feeling pouty and irrational and doesn’t particularly care. Taylor may be avoiding him as well; the one time they inadvertently ended up in the same room she immediately dropped eye contact and left._ _

__He manages to completely dodge her until Wednesday morning, when it all goes to hell. Harry’s hiding in a back passage of the third floor corridor with Niall, chosen because he isn’t involved in preparations and he doesn’t ask too many prying questions. Unfortunately, Liam hasn’t gotten the memo that Harry is avoiding everyone; he’s too busy getting increasingly anxious as the castle prepares for the invasion of eighty guests. After the mysterious visit from one of Emmaline’s minions three years ago, Harry has received a single, untraceable rose among his birthday gifts each year. They’ve always been caught before Harry even saw them, but Liam definitely isn’t taking any chances on Harry’s safety in the last months before he turns eighteen. One of the downsides of opting out of so much of the planning is that Harry is always available for Liam’s unnecessarily complicated escape drills. He’s also been told to check in every thirty minutes and Liam is threatening to shadow him for the entirety of the contest. It’s horrible._ _

__“Can you do a spell to trick Liam into thinking we’ve already done a drill today?” Harry asks. It comes out a bit mumbled as he’s lying facedown on the floor but Niall seems to understand him._ _

__“I don’t mess with people’s heads. That’s not a great branch of magic to get into.” Harry groans. “Sit up. You’re supposed to be critiquing my scrying.” Harry groans again. Ever since Niall revealed that he does, actually, have some magical ability, Harry has been pestering him to practice in secret. Partly because Harry is really very bored, but also because he thinks it will be good for Niall. Niall’s actually highly talented, he just lacks focus._ _

__“It’s so boring. You just use it to watch your parent’s meetings.”_ _

__“You were the one who said we should sneak into a meeting!” Niall says indignantly._ _

__“I didn’t know they were so boring!” Niall makes a rude noise at him. Harry has just reluctantly heaved himself into a sitting position when Liam pokes his head around the corner._ _

__“Good,” he says, jogging over. “You’re here.”_ _

__“Oh _no_ ,” Harry whines. Liam looks slightly offended. Which, fair. He is just doing his job._ _

__“Plan F,” Liam says disapprovingly._ _

__“That needs at least four people, doesn’t it? There are only three of us.”_ _

__“Four,” Taylor says. She’s holding Zayn and glaring at the floor._ _

__“I’ve recruited Taylor,” Liam says cheerfully. “She wasn’t busy.” Taylor scowls at the floor._ _

__“Take your mirror.”_ _

__“I’m not _anyone’s_ mirror. I am my own mirror!” Zayn protests. Taylor ignores him, pushing him off on Liam._ _

__“Harry’s meant to be holding Zayn,” Liam says, poking his head around Zayn._ _

__“You can just be in the center,” Harry says._ _

__“It’s not a proper drill if we don’t do it properly,” Liam says sternly._ _

__“Can we please just hurry and get this over with?” Taylor asks._ _

__“Harry needs to be in the center,” Liam insists._ _

__“I don’t want to,” Harry says stubbornly._ _

__“Why are you being such a baby about this?” Taylor says._ _

__“Why are you even here?” Harry growls back._ _

__“Fine! I’ll be in the center,” Liam says. “Harry, take my spot up front. Taylor, you go on my left. Niall in the back.”_ _

__“Hmm?” Niall absently looks up from the bowl of water in front of him. “Oh, are we doing a drill?” Liam breathes out sharply through his nose._ _

__“Niall, we’re doing plan F. You’re in back.”_ _

__“Why doesn’t Harry have Zayn, then?” It’s a testament to how often they do these drills that even _Niall_ has memorized the correct protocol. Taylor grabs Niall’s shoulders and maneuvers him behind Liam._ _

__“All ready!” she says, only slightly sardonically. Harry huffs in annoyance but shuffles to the front._ _

__“Let’s move out,” Liam sighs. They get less than ten feet down the corridor before Taylor starts complaining._ _

__“Harry do you have to move so slowly?”_ _

__“I’m going at a perfectly respectable pace!”_ _

__“For a turtle, maybe. Not even a real turtle either, one of those rock ones that this one has,” she says, jerking a thumb at Liam._ _

__“They’re carved stone,” Liam mutters. Harry starts walking slower._ _

__“Seriously? Some of us actually have things to do today.”_ _

__“Oh, like what? Crash something else no one wants you at?” Harry snaps._ _

__“I didn’t have to come help you, you know. I’m sorry to break it to you, Hazza, but the entire world doesn’t revolve around you.” It makes Harry’s blood boil how she uses his nickname so fucking _mockingly_ , like it’s their friendship that’s the real joke._ _

__“I don’t think the whole world revolves around me.” Harry hates how his voice wavers, it’s like blood in the water for Taylor._ _

__“And yet, here we all are, orbiting you. What a joke,” she scoffs._ _

__“Liam’s in the middle,” Harry points out. He can’t see Taylor but he’s fairly certain she’s rolling her eyes._ _

__“Clinging to the literal meaning of something. Shocking.” Harry stops and whirls around. Liam nearly runs into him, but fortunately they’re going slowly enough that he manages to stop himself in time._ _

__“Just leave if you’re so busy. We don’t need you here.”_ _

__“Yeah, because you’re doing so well on your own.”_ _

__“I am. Amazingly well,” Harry snaps._ _

__“Can we just get out of the palace,” Liam complains. Harry tightens his jaw and turns again, striding for the exit. He’s probably going too fast, now, but he doesn’t care. He just wants this to be over. Harry practically jogs to the garden door and then stops abruptly a few feet away. Liam, hurrying to catch up, slams into his back. Before he can correct his balance, Niall bumps into him. Liam’s grip on the mirror frame slips and Zayn starts to slide to the floor. Harry doesn’t even realize what’s happening until it’s over; he hears Zayn’s shocked yelp from behind him cut off suddenly but by the time he turns all the way around Taylor’s crouched to the side gripping the frame in her hands. She looks pale and a bit surprised, but it’s nothing to Liam’s face. He’s gone a strange combination of white and flushed and he keeps opening and closing his mouth in surprise._ _

__“Alright, Liam?” Taylor asks, standing up slowly and holding Zayn with her arms crossed over the bottom of his frame._ _

__“What the hell were you thinking?” Liam snaps, head jerking around to glare at Niall._ _

__“Me?” Niall asks, confused._ _

__“Don’t just _run into me_ like that. These drills are serious! We need to be focused! We can’t just be dashing around the castle like overgrown children! And you,” he says, whirling on Taylor and Harry. “Both of you. What the _fuck_ is wrong with you? This is for your safety, Harry. And Taylor, he’s your best friend! You two are fighting like bratty infants instead of focusing on what’s important. Honestly, I’m so angry at all of you,” Liam snaps. He stares them all down for a minute and then storms off._ _

__“Well,” Niall says into the silence._ _

__“Should we...go after him?” Taylor asks hesitantly. They all exchange looks. Zayn is still sort of staring at the place where Liam was standing and doesn’t seem to have any input._ _

__“I’ll go,” Harry says, finally. “Taylor, can you take Zayn back upstairs and make sure he’s okay? Niall, go with her.”_ _

__“Yeah, I’ll do that,” Taylor says. She looks a little calmer now that there’s a plan. “Um. Come tell us what happened after?” she asks hesitantly._ _

__“I will,” Harry says._ _

__Liam is surprisingly difficult to find. Harry knows pretty much every hiding place and seldom-used corridor in the castle and has been haunting them all fairly frequently this month. He doesn’t find Liam in any of them. Harry finally, somewhat reluctantly, heads for the top floor portrait gallery. He hasn’t been up there since the Awkward Louis Situation developed, and he isn’t keen to go now. It reminds him of all the (retrospectively highly embarrassing) dreamy moping he did up there in the weeks between his birthday and encountering Louis for the second time. Liam is there, though, sitting under King Alexander’s rather aggressively posing stallion with his head leaned back against the wall. Harry slumps down next to him, pulling his legs in. Liam doesn’t say anything, doesn’t even turn to look at him._ _

__“I’m sorry,” Harry pauses to clear his throat. “I’m sorry, that, um, Taylor and I brought our fight to drills. We were being immature, you were right.” Liam doesn’t say anything, so Harry continues. “It wasn’t really fair that you yelled at Niall, though. He didn’t do anything.”_ _

__Liam, much to Harry’s surprise, gives a sharp laugh and then starts crying. It’s weird and a bit disorienting; Harry’s never seen him show an emotion beyond mild annoyance, and even that generally takes some provoking. Liam is definitely crying, though. Odder still, he’s not even doing anything about it. He’s not wiping his eyes or covering his face he’s just, crying._ _

__“Um,” Harry says, nervously. “Are you okay? What’s wrong?” Liam shakes his head and doesn’t respond. He just keeps crying and Harry has no idea what to do. Harry is usually sort of distantly aware that Liam is barely six years older than him, but mostly Liam feels like a benevolently stern father figure rather than a friend. He finally leans over and loops his arms around Liam, who is now shaking a little and getting louder and louder. “Is there anything I can do?” Harry says softly. This seems to jolt Liam, because he focuses on Harry, finally._ _

__“I could have killed him,” he whispers._ _

__“What?” Harry asks, completely lost. “Niall?” Liam furrows his eyebrows in confusion._ _

__“No, Zayn.”_ _

__“Oh,” Harry says. This sets Liam off in a fresh wave of tears. “No! That’s not...You didn’t, Liam. Taylor caught him!”_ _

__“I know! But she shouldn’t have needed to!” Liam says fiercely. “I should have protected him. I should be able to protect all of you, it’s my job.” Harry shrugs sort of helplessly, unsure of what to say. He doesn’t usually do much comforting._ _

__“You do a good job protecting us,” he tries._ _

__“Not good enough,” Liam mutters. “I...it would kill me if something happened to any of you. But...” he trails off._ _

__“What?”_ _

__“But especially Zayn,” Liam whispers. “I can’t lose him. And he’s already been through so much...Maybe I’m being selfish.”_ _

__“Selfish?” Harry feels like he’s about seven steps behind in this conversation. Is this how Taylor feels when she’s trying to reassure him?_ _

__“For keeping him around, bringing him everywhere with me.”_ _

__“Zayn loves spending time with you.” Harry can at least say this confidently: Liam is unquestionably Zayn’s favorite person._ _

__“But should I let him? If it’s dangerous for him, if I can’t protect him...”_ _

__“What’s the alternative, though?” Harry breaks in. “Keep him hidden away, locked up in some dusty tower alone?”_ _

__“At least he’d be safe,” Liam says, looking down._ _

__“That’s no way to live,” Harry says fiercely. “Trust me. You just end up penned in and lashing out at everyone who tries to help you.” Liam blinks at him._ _

__“Is that how you feel, Harry?” he asks, cautious. Harry snorts in disbelief._ _

__“Of course it’s how I feel. It’s how I _am_. Isolated, cut off from the world, all to keep me safe. And look what it’s done to me,” he adds, smiling wryly. “It’s made me bitter and alone.”_ _

__“Oh, Harry. You aren’t alone. You have so many people who love you.”_ _

__“And look how I treat them,” Harry says quietly. “No, trust me Liam. Zayn is better off the way he is. He’s better off with you.” Liam tilts his chin so he’s looking straight into Harry’s eyes._ _

__“I’m sorry if I’ve made you feel that way. Like...I don’t know, that you’re just a thing. Something to protect but not to love.”_ _

__Harry smiles a little sadly. “I’m sorry I always spoil your drills.”_ _

__Liam gives a (slightly watery) chuckle. “I don’t normally mind so much. We’ll just have to come up with a safer way to do things.”_ _

__“Ah. There’s our old determined Liam!”_ _

__Liam laughs again, more solid. “I can back off for a bit, if you want. I know things are a bit overwhelming right now, with the contest and everything,” Liam says._ _

__“It’s not that, exactly,” Harry says hesitantly, fighting the sudden, wild urge to tell Liam everything. Liam furrows his eyebrows but nods encouragingly. “I just...what if I don’t meet anyone?”_ _

__“What, at the contest? There are going to be sixty girls there; I’m sure you’ll like one of them.”_ _

__“That’s not what I meant,” Harry says, frustrated. He tries to come at it from another angle. “Have you told Zayn how you feel about him?”_ _

__“What do you mean?’_ _

__“That you’re, like, in love with him,” Harry says slowly. Liam flinches._ _

__“I’m not...I mean...I don’t think...” he sputters._ _

__“Is that not what you were saying?” Harry asks. “You don’t want to live without him, you’d give anything to keep him safe, you just want what’s best for him?”_ _

__“Yes,” Liam says, dropping his eyes and picking at his trouser cuff. “I guess that is what I meant.”_ _

__“So have you told him?”_ _

__“It’s impossible, Harry. He’s trapped in a mirror.”_ _

__“So no.”_ _

__“Have you told Taylor how you feel?” Liam fires back._ _

__“How I feel about what?”_ _

__“About her,” Liam says, rolling his eyes._ _

__“Why does everyone think I’m in love with Taylor,” Harry complains._ _

__“You aren’t?”_ _

__“No! I’m _gay_ , Liam.” The second it’s out, Harry feels like the floor falls out from under him. His stomach is dropping and he’s sinking and he can’t breathe but he also feels like...at least he’s not in that dusty old tower any more. At least one more person knows; the window is that much wider. The more time passes before Liam says anything the more anxious Harry feels. Liam is just opening and closing his mouth like a confused fish and Harry is having renewed surges of guilt about his disaster of a meeting with Louis last week. No wonder he left in such a hurry._ _

__“You aren’t in love with Taylor?” Liam finally says._ _

__“That’s what you’re getting out of this, Liam?”_ _

__“I don’t know! I’m surprised! I don’t know how to react! Does your mother know?”_ _

__“Does my _mother_ know? Liam.”_ _

__“I’m sorry! Okay, um. Wow.”_ _

__“Never mind,” Harry heaves an aggrieved sigh and goes to stand up. Liam catches his wrist in a move that is, again, oddly reminiscent of the last Friday._ _

__“I just meant, no wonder you’re so concerned about this contest.”_ _

__“Yeah,” Harry sighs, sliding back down to the ground. “No kidding.”_ _

__“Why don’t you tell the queen?”_ _

__“What’s the point? All the prophecies have specifically stated my soulmate is a girl. Every single mage we’ve consulted has had that one thing in common. Either my true love just doesn’t exist or there’s some magical exception girl I haven’t met yet.”_ _

__“I’m sorry,” Liam says, mouth pulling down. Harry isn’t sure whether it’s comforting or depressing that Liam agrees with him about the hopelessness of the situation. Harry lets his head fall back against the wall._ _

__“Let’s just ease up on the drills a bit, please? I’d like a bit of peace my last few months.”_ _

__“We can,” Liam agrees quickly. “But...”_ _

__“If you’re going to say tell my mother, don’t. I already hear that quite enough from Taylor.”_ _

__“I...okay. Just think about it.”_ _

__“It’s all I think about,” Harry mumbles._ _

__\---_ _

__Eleanor has had a busy morning. She arrived at seven and has just now, nearly an hour later, managed to divest herself of one moping marquess and four mostly-constructed suits. Louis is in a whiny, clingy mood and he’s driving her absolutely round the bend. She’s fleeing for the village on the excuse of buying new buttons for the yellow suit and doesn’t intend to return until after lunch. Unfortunately, her whole lovely, open day snaps closed again as soon as she clears the front gate._ _

__“Oh. Your highness. What a surprise.” An _unpleasant_ surprise, she thinks a bit crankily. Louis may be a pain but he’s her pain. She doesn’t take kindly to snotty princes hurting his feelings. Harry carefully reigns his horse in so he’s riding alongside her._ _

__“Eleanor. You’re looking well.” She just raises an eyebrow. It’s about as rude as she can get away with toward royalty. “Um...you aren’t going to meet Louis, are you?”_ _

__“Why?” Harry winces. Her tone may have been a bit sharp. Oops._ _

__“I just wanted to ask you something without him finding out.” Eleanor tugs on the reigns gently, trying not to take her increasingly rotten mood out on her horse. Poor Iris is a lovely creature and certainly doesn’t deserve it._ _

__“Spit it out then,” she snaps. Being shockingly rude is quite fun. Maybe she’ll have Iris trample him next._ _

__“Right, um,” Harry says. _You’ve clearly impressed her with how well-spoken you are. Well done._ “I just wanted to know what a good gift would be to get Louis,” he pushes out in a rush. Eleanor’s body language relaxes a little at this, fortunately._ _

__“Why would you like to know?” she asks, still suspicious but slightly less frosty. Harry looks down._ _

__“I may have been inadvertently rude to him.”_ _

__“Good to know it was inadvertent,” Eleanor mutters. Harry blushes._ _

__“I just...I appreciate all the work he’s doing for me and I’ve really enjoyed talking to him? And I hope he continues to consider me his friend. Or maybe I’m presuming? Sorry. Uh, I would like to be friends with him?” This is horrific. Harry’s face seems to be spontaneously combusting and he can’t even bear to look at Eleanor anymore. She’s laughing. _It’s getting worse. This is the worst thing. This is it_._ _

__“You seem sweet,” she says, a little drily. “I’ll help you.” Harry’s head pops up eagerly, embarrassment forgotten._ _

__“You will?”_ _

__“Yes,” Eleanor says, pulling Iris in close to his horse so she can grab his chin. “But don’t fuck up again,” she hisses, right in his face. Harry freezes, eyes wide, then shakes his head vigorously._ _

__“I won’t. I promise.” Eleanor sidles away and laughs lightly._ _

__“Then we’ll be just fine, little prince. Now come along, we’ve got shopping to do.”_ _

__\---_ _

__Harry is released for home around two. He honestly doesn’t even think about how long he’s been gone until he gets back to his rooms to deposit Louis’ present and nearly trips over Liam._ _

__“Where have you been?” Liam hisses at him._ _

__“Um. Out?”_ _

__“Yes, thanks for that,” Liam says sarcastically. “Did you forget you have obligations?”_ _

__“I thought I had the day off?”_ _

__“Except for?”_ _

__“Um. I don’t know?” Harry says._ _

__“You are supposed to check in with me every half hour, Harry.”_ _

__“Oops,” Harry winces. “I’m sorry, I lost track of time.”_ _

__“You never came to morning check-in at nine, and you missed the subsequent ten check ins!”_ _

__“Is mom upset?” Harry asks, tentatively. Liam sighs and taps his foot._ _

__“I didn’t tell her.”_ _

__“What, really?” Harry is pleasantly surprised._ _

__“Fortunately for you, you were within Zayn’s range. He confirmed you were safe and with that Marquess’ assistant woman.”_ _

__“Eleanor. Aww, thanks Liam!”_ _

__“Don’t thank me,” Liam snaps. “This was a one time thing, Harry. I know you were upset about yesterday and I wanted to give you a little time to cool off. I appreciate your situation is difficult, but you _cannot_ leave the palace again without telling me.”_ _

__“I won’t,” Harry grumbles. “I’m sorry, Liam.”_ _

__“Hmph.”_ _

__“Thank you, though,” Harry says as Liam turns to go._ _

__“I’m sleeping outside your door tonight.”_ _

__“I care about you, too!” Liam slams the door._ _

__\---_ _

__Harry barely sleeps. For one, he can hear Liam grumbling and turning over uncomfortably from where he’s sleeping on the settee in Harry’s sitting room. It’s quite annoying. The bigger, more important reason, though, is that Harry is going to see Louis again tomorrow._ _

__He had been briefly worried that Louis wouldn’t come at all, a concern which he made the mistake of telling Eleanor about._ _

__“You think he’s that unprofessional?” she had said, aghast._ _

__“No! That isn’t what I meant!”_ _

__“He has an _obligation_ to fulfill.”_ _

__“I know! I just meant, because I was so...”_ _

__“He’ll be there,” she said firmly. “Now, how does this capelet look with my skin tone? It’s still a bit chilly outside and I’ve worn all my winter purchases far too frequently for someone who makes their living in fashion.”_ _

__So, Louis is definitely coming. The question is, what is Harry going to say to him? The ‘please forgive me’ gift Eleanor had helped him pick out is sitting hidden in the back of Harry’s desk drawer, so Liam won’t snoop around in the middle of the night and see it._ _

__Harry sits bolt upright suddenly. Is Liam going to insist on sitting in on Harry’s appointment tomorrow? Surely not. It’s a clothes fitting for high-fashion suits and Liam wears practically the same thing every day. He’ll be bored within minutes. Right? Harry definitely can’t sleep now. He needs to brainstorm ways of boring Liam while entertaining Louis._ _

__By sunrise, Harry is slumped down and mostly-asleep in his window seat, drooling on a partially written list in his journal._ _

__“Why is ‘scathing criticism of turtles’ the only thing written on this page?” Liam says, right next to his ear. Harry starts awake._ _

__“That is my private writing, Liam,” he says indignantly. “I don’t read your journal.”_ _

__“Right,” Liam says slowly. “Well I just wanted to check on you. I’m headed to early training in the yard, but I’ll be back to wake you up at nine.” Harry grumbles and leans back against the window. “You’re going to hurt your neck sleeping like that,” Liam says, helpfully._ _

__“Go away.”_ _

__Harry pretends his neck doesn’t hurt when Liam wakes him up a couple hours later._ _

__“We need to do the morning sweep of the palace. Get dressed.” Harry wants to complain but he figures that isn’t going to help him magically regain Liam’s trust by the time Louis arrives._ _

__Ten minutes later and Harry is starting to reconsider his no-complaints policy because this is taking _forever_. Besides, it’s not like being alone with Louis has gone well for Harry in the past; maybe he should just let Liam come along. They’re going through the palace agonizingly slowly because Liam insisted Zayn come with them._ _

__“He gets bored if we don’t bring him,” Liam claims._ _

__“He’s sleeping,” Harry points out._ _

__“‘M awake,” Zayn mumbles, not opening his eyes._ _

__“You can have a sticky bun when we patrol the kitchens,” Liam promises. Harry purses his lips and doesn’t say anything. He wants to point out that he isn’t a toddler and he doesn’t need to be bribed with the promise of sweets to cooperate. But, he also wants the sticky bun, so._ _

__\---_ _

__It turns out Harry’s good behavior all morning is pointless; Liam plans to sit in on his fitting with Louis._ _

__“You’re just going to be bored!” Harry says._ _

__“My job is to protect you, not be entertained by you.” Liam says this in his monotonous ‘I’ve uttered this same phrase ten thousand times before’ voice and Harry fights down the urge to pinch him._ _

__“Can’t you at least sit outside?” Harry whispers, on his way to answer the knock at the door. Liam just gives him a look. “You’re so...” The door swings open and Harry starts back in surprise._ _

__“Oh. Hello,” Louis says. “Sorry to barge in. I didn’t hear anything so I thought you might be back in the closet again.”_ _

__“Er, come in,” Harry says, stepping back and barely missing Liam’s toes. Louis squeezes past them, glancing at Liam in slight confusion. “This is Liam,” Harry grumbles._ _

__“Hello, Liam,” Louis says, voice dry. “Will you be joining us?”_ _

__“It’s my job to protect the prince,” Liam says._ _

__“He’s my bodyguard,” Harry clarifies._ _

__“Oh, is he new?” Liam looks rather offended at this insinuation._ _

__“I’ve worked here for several years, actually.”_ _

__“Never seen you before, mate.”_ _

__“Yes, well. Harry is usually more responsible than he was this week,” Liam says. Louis raises one eyebrow and keeps staring at Liam. Once Liam starts squirming uncomfortably, Louis speaks again._ _

__“I’m hardly going to injure him.”_ _

__“It’s not about you,” Liam mutters._ _

__“Just wait out here, Liam,” Harry says, seizing his opportunity. He grabs Louis’ arm and flees for the back of his suite before Liam can contradict him._ _

__“I’ll take good care of our Hazza,” Louis calls over his shoulder. Harry giggles._ _

__It’s not until they’re barricaded in the closet again, slightly breathless, that Harry remembers to be nervous. Louis is still laughing a little, eyes squinched up endearingly. Harry bites his lip and fishes around in his pocket for the small parcel stowed there._ _

__“I got you something,” he says, voice quiet. Louis looks down at Harry’s hands in surprise but doesn’t say anything. “It’s just...well, here,” Harry continues, reaching out for Louis and placing the present in his hand gently._ _

__“You didn’t need to get me something,” Louis says, tilting his head a little in confusion. He’s tugging gently on the string tying the parcel closed, though, so Harry just smiles. He gets nervous again when Louis just stares down at the small rose-gold face and doesn’t say anything._ _

__“You don’t like it?” Harry asks anxiously. Louis clears his throat._ _

__“A compass?”_ _

__“Yeah. I mean, I’m sorry if it isn’t a good present? Eleanor said that you’ve always wanted to travel but you haven’t gotten to go anywhere far away yet. I just thought, maybe after all this is over, you might have a chance? I thought it would be something to remind you of home when you’re far away. Do you not like the rose-gold? Or the bird on the front? You don’t have to wear it as a pocketwatch if you don’t want to. I just thought it might be...” Louis throws his arms around Harry’s neck and Harry stops rambling._ _

__“It’s perfect,” Louis whispers into his ear. Harry shivers a little and pulls Louis closer._ _

__When Louis finally releases him a few minutes later, Harry feels slightly disoriented. It’s like his senses have all narrowed and focused on the sensation of Louis in his arms, and now he has to learn to stand on his own all over again. He clears his throat to say something, but is interrupted before he can begin._ _

__“Is everything okay in there?” Liam says suspiciously from outside the closet door. “It’s awfully quiet.” Louis giggles and shifts the trunk they slid in front of the door away._ _

__“Come see the new suits, Liam. Harry was just about to try the first one on.” Liam pokes his head around the door cautiously, edging into the room. Louis pushes him down on the trunk and hands Harry one of the suits. “This one first.”_ _

__Putting on a fashion show for Liam and Louis is a somewhat unique experience. Louis is _on_ for the audience in a way Harry hasn’t exactly experienced but somehow isn’t terribly surprised by. He keeps catcalling Harry as he walks down the makeshift runway, yelling increasingly absurd instructions about which way to turn and what poses to strike. Liam keeps eyeing Louis, perched right up next to him on top of the trunk, in begrudging/confused admiration._ _

__“Harold! Models don’t giggle! I’m going to fire you and put Liam in all of these.”_ _

__“Not my seafoam embroidered waistcoat!” Harry stops laughing long enough to protest._ _

__“I won’t take your waistcoat,” Liam mutters._ _

__“The waistcoat first,” Louis yells, grabbing it and throwing it at Liam. Liam looks down at the clothing like it’s about to pin his hands down and climb on his body, and Harry has to sit down because he’s laughing so hard._ _

__“Um,” Liam says eloquently. Louis pinches his cheek._ _

__“Don’t worry, Liam. I’m not going to risk you ripping any of these with your massive arms before Harry even gets a chance to show them off.” Liam is torn between responding ‘my arms aren’t that massive’ and ‘I worked very hard for these massive arms, thanks,’ so he doesn’t say anything._ _

__“My arms are a perfectly respectable size,” Harry pouts._ _

__“You have lovely arms,” Louis confirms. “Now do a spin for us.” Harry hops up and pirouettes so the tails of the jacket spin out behind him. “Lovely,” Louis applauds. Harry grins._ _

__“I’ll just wait outside for the rest,” Liam mutters, regretting all of his choices. Louis ignores him and selects the next suit for Harry to try on._ _

__Harry feels like Louis leaves far too early, but the way he can feel the sharp outline of the compass pressing into his stomach when Louis hugs him is comforting._ _

__“Thank you,” Louis whispers in his ear, too quiet for Liam to hear it. Harry smiles against Louis’ shoulder._ _

__“You’re welcome,” he whispers back. “I’ll see you next week.” Louis nods and smiles softly as he pulls away._ _

__“Liam,” Louis says, loudly._ _

__“Louis,” Liam says, nervously. He holds out his hand for Louis to shake. Louis bats it out of the way and hugs him, too._ _

__“Take care of Harry until I return,” Louis says dramatically._ _

__“That’s my job,” Liam says seriously. Louis rolls his eyes but grins to take the sting out of it._ _

__“Be good,” Louis calls over his shoulder as he heads for the door._ _

__“So,” Liam says into the newly quiet room. “He is certainly something.”_ _

__“What does that mean, Liam,” Harry says indignantly. Liam raises his hands placatingly._ _

__“Nothing! Just, I’ve never seen you like that.”_ _

__“Like what?” Harry says, curious._ _

__“All precious and giggly,” Liam says, waving his hands vaguely at Harry’s face._ _

__“I’m precious one hundred percent of the time.”_ _

__“You know what I mean.” Harry makes a face and shakes his head. “It’s like...you light up when he’s around.”_ _

__“Well, he’s really great.”_ _

__“Okay,” Liam says dubiously. Harry glares at him. “I’m sure he’s great,” Liam says, laughing. “I’m happy you made a new friend, I guess.”_ _

__“Hmph,” Harry says. Liam isn’t exactly acknowledging how charming and funny Louis is, but Harry figures he has all week to explain it to him. For now, he needs to plan. If Taylor is right and there _is_ a possibility someone as amazing as Louis could be his true love, Harry needs to find out. There is only one person he can think of who can give him more information on the curse, and Harry is determined to find a way to talk to her._ _

__\---_ _

__This is probably a terrible idea. Harry has never visited Caroline before, and he doesn’t exactly have an excuse to do so now. Niall has agreed to pretend the visit to his sort-of aunt is his idea, but that’s only barely more plausible. Niall never visits her either; she comes to the palace frequently enough and the two of them aren’t terribly close anyway._ _

__Fortunately, Niall had interpreted Harry’s _Please don’t ask me why_ face correctly and not pushed for an explanation. Unfortunately, they’re supposed to leave in ten minutes and Harry still doesn’t have a plan. Caroline is the person who counteracted the curse and created the soul mate clause; if anyone knows its exact terms, it will be her. Harry supposes some prodding on the matter will (hopefully) seem reasonable with the contest starting in just over a week. He can’t just come out and ask her “Is there any chance my true love is actually a man? Is that allowed?” Caroline will _definitely_ tell his mother._ _

__In retrospect, he probably should have spent a little bit less time worrying about what he was going to say to Caroline and a little more time figuring out how he and Niall were going to sneak out of the castle. Liam finds them before they manage to escape and insists on coming with them._ _

__“It’s barely a twenty minute horse ride, Liam,” Harry gripes._ _

__“Harry. We just had this conversation two days ago. The rule is if you leave the palace, I accompany you,” Liam says sternly. “You know that.”_ _

__“But Liam,” Harry whines. Liam just stares him down._ _

__“Just let him come, Haz. He isn’t that bad.”_ _

__“It’s not that,” Harry grouses. “It’s just awkward. I’m nearly eighteen, I don’t need a babysitter.”_ _

__“You do when someone is trying to murder you,” Liam says._ _

__“Only temporarily! I’m meant to recover!” Niall slings an arm around both of their shoulders._ _

__“Let’s go,” he whines. “It’s nearly tea time and if we wait much longer she’ll have eaten without us.”_ _

__“We aren’t staying for tea!” Harry’s plan is crumbling before him as he speaks. There’s no way he can subtly hint about the possible gender of his soul mate when Liam is _in the room._ Liam will figure out what he’s doing and give him pity eyes. Liam has the worst pity eyes. Even worse, Liam might take this as a sign that Harry’s ready to come out and start bringing up their conversation (or worse, Louis). That is something Harry would like to avoid at all costs; Liam is much harder to avoid than Taylor as Taylor isn’t being paid to follow Harry around. “Let’s just not go at all.”_ _

__“No, I think it’s nice that you want to pay your respects to Caroline. You don’t do that nearly enough.” Liam’s tone is slightly reproachful, which Harry does _not_ appreciate._ _

__“Are we going or not?” Niall asks, from where he’s leaned back against the wall._ _

__“ _Fine_ ,” Harry snaps._ _

__“Fine,” Liam says. Niall shrugs and starts walking again._ _

__The ride is strained. Harry is possibly riding a little recklessly, both to get it over more quickly and to make conversation difficult. Liam keeps yelling after him to slow down, but Harry ignores him. Liam’s ruined his brilliant (if poorly fleshed out) plan; who wants to listen to him anyway._ _

__By the time they arrive at Caroline’s and stable their horses, Harry’s hair is a disaster from being blown about by the wind. Niall keeps snickering and trying to stick his hands in it. Harry is barely able to finger comb his hair and walk at the same time; with the added difficulty of ducking away from Niall he has no focus left for Liam’s lecture about riding safety._ _

__“Stop it, Niall,” Harry hisses. Niall gives the now somewhat-tamed locks one final tug as Caroline sweeps into the room._ _

__“Boys! So lovely to see you. You’re just in time for tea,” she says. Niall cheers quietly. Caroline sets out a tray of finger sandwiches and pastries before pouring tea for them. “So what brings you here today,” she continues. Liam and Niall both look at Harry._ _

__“Um.” Harry takes a sip of his tea to stall for time. “What sort of tea is this?”_ _

__“Oh! Isn’t it lovely? I brew it using lavender from my own garden. One of the benefits of being a fairy is that we have excellent green thumbs.”_ _

__“It’s delicious,” Harry says, politely. Liam clears his throat and shifts in his chair._ _

__“Thank you for making the time to see us,” he says, looking pointedly at Harry. “I’m sure you’re very busy. We don’t want to take up too much of your day.”_ _

__“Oh not at all,” Caroline says, graciously._ _

__“Er, yes. We do appreciate it,” Harry adds awkwardly. Liam glares at him when he doesn’t continue, but Harry honestly doesn’t know where to begin._ _

__“I think I see where this is going,” Caroline says, voice smug. Harry freezes in his seat, teacup halfway to his lips._ _

__“Do you?” he squawks._ _

__“Yes. You want my expert opinion on the best way to find your soulmate.”_ _

__“Um. Yes?” Harry says cautiously._ _

__“I’m afraid I can’t do that,” Caroline says in a jolly tone, wagging a finger at him. Harry relaxes a little, disappointed that she won’t be any help but relieved she hasn’t figured out why he’s asking. “The thing about true love is that only you yourself can discover your true love. No one can tell you who she,” Harry winces imperceptibly, “is or what she is like.” Harry nods, sighing. So much for this trip. “I may have something for you, though,” Caroline continues, rising gracefully to her feet._ _

__“Oh?” Harry says politely. Caroline beams at him and flutters over to her bookshelf. She gently pulls a delicately bound and embossed volume from the eye-level shelf and brings it back over._ _

__“This is a collection of stories that other fairy godmothers have put together, about how their charges have found happiness. Perhaps you may find a small clue within its pages to help you on your journey.”_ _

__“Thank you,” Harry says, holding out his hands reluctantly. The chance to read about other, luckier princes and princesses was not exactly what he came for. Caroline doesn’t seem to notice his subdued tone._ _

__“Be very careful. This is my only copy and it was given to me as a gift by my dear friend Nicole. She’ll be simply horrid if it’s damaged the next time she comes to visit.”_ _

__“I’ll keep it in good condition,” Harry promises. He doesn’t intend to read it, so that should be an easy task. Caroline pats him on the cheek and sits back down._ _

__“Niall, darling. I was just speaking to your mother earlier today.”_ _

__“Oh?” Niall says, suddenly looking much less enthusiastic about the finger sandwiches._ _

__“Yes. She’s been appallingly busy lately, poor dear. Barely had time to chat with me through a scrying glass. I believe she and your father are going to try and visit soon, though.”_ _

__“Great.”_ _

__“It will be marvelous, won’t it? I told her about how well you’re doing, helping the prince with his _little problem_. In fact! She recommended a spell book that I could send on to you. It’s a bit dense but might be some help!” Caroline flits back over to the shelf and pulls a shockingly dusty tome from the very top. “Here it is,” she says, customary enthusiasm dampened slightly by three rapid sneezes._ _

__“Thanks,” Niall says, unenthusiastically. “I’ll dive right into it.” Caroline nods eagerly, ambivalent to Niall’s tone._ _

__“Well thank you so much for having us,” Harry breaks in._ _

__“Oh,” Caroline pouts, “do you have to go already?”_ _

__“Unfortunately, I do.” Harry tries to sound regretful. “I have an appointment.” Hopefully this is vague enough that she won’t question it._ _

__“Ah, yes. You are of course very busy preparing to find your bride,” Caroline says, clapping her hands excitedly at the prospect. Harry smiles weakly. “Go on, dear. My nephew will keep me company!” Niall shoots Harry wide, panicked eyes._ _

__“Uh...” Harry says._ _

__“Unfortunately, we need to bring Niall back with us,” Liam cuts in smoothly. “He’s absolutely necessary to make up the numbers for dinner. It was so lovely to see you again, though, Caroline. We do hope you’ll come to the palace some time soon?”_ _

__“Yes,” Harry adds quickly._ _

__“Oh _of course_. I do _love_ visiting with everyone!” she gushes. Six cheek kisses later and they’ve all escaped back into the forest._ _

__“Nice thinking on your feet, Harry,” Niall says sarcastically._ _

__“Sorry,” Harry mutters._ _

__“I hope that trip was worth it,” Liam says, sternly. Harry sighs and touches the book in his saddlebag. He seriously doubts the trip was worth it._ _

__Harry doesn’t discover just how not worth it the visit was until the final horrible moment of the day, right before he heads to bed._ _

__“No more check ins,” Liam says._ _

__“What?” Harry asks, confused._ _

__“From now on, I’m with you all the time.”_ _

__“Liam! That’s not fair!”_ _

__“I gave you a second chance and you abused my trust, Harry. I don’t have a choice.”_ _

__“You always have a _choice_.”_ _

__“Well, so do you,” Liam fires back. “You could have just told me where you were going today.”_ _

__“We spent all day together the day before! I wanted a break. And anyway, it was just to Caroline’s.”_ _

__“That’s not the point,” Liam says, exasperated._ _

__“Then what is the point,” Harry says, setting his jaw. “I thought you were going to ease up until the contest.”_ _

__“And I thought I could trust you to make my job easier. Clearly, I can’t.”_ _

__“ _Fine_ ,” Harry snaps. He flings himself down on the bed and turns toward the wall._ _

__“If you would just...”_ _

__“Leave it, Liam. Just leave it.”_ _

__“We’ll talk tomorrow,” Liam says reluctantly. Harry doesn’t respond._ _

__\---_ _

__Harry doesn’t get out of bed the next day. Liam paces around the sitting room, occasionally knocking on Harry’s bedroom door and yelling at him to come out. Harry just tells him to go away. Around noon, Liam has a loud-passive aggressive conversation with someone in the next room that includes the words ‘pouting’ and ‘no lunch if he doesn’t come out.’ Harry rolls over and goes back to sleep._ _

__When he wakes up, someone is perched on the end of his bed, face covered in shadows. Harry nearly screams, but then the figure leans forward and he sees that it’s Taylor._ _

__“What are you doing in here? You scared the hell out of me,” Harry hisses._ _

__“You missed dinner. Liam’s worried about you.”_ _

__“Liam can go fuck himself,” Harry snaps. Taylor rolls her eyes._ _

__“Sit up.”_ _

__“I don’t want to.”_ _

__“You’re going to get crumbs everywhere if you don’t,” she says, handing him a biscuit, “but you’re the one who has to sleep in them.” Harry sits up._ _

__“What are you doing here anyway,” he mumbles through a mouthful of biscuit._ _

__“Thought you might be hungry,” Taylor says, pushing him over a bit so she can sit back against the headboard with him._ _

__“I haven’t talked to you since...” Harry trails off._ _

__“I know. Eat faster, we need to get moving.”_ _

__“What?” Harry says, confused._ _

__“One of the stable cats had kittens. We’re going to see them.”_ _

__“Liam won’t like that,” Harry points out._ _

__“I asked him already.”_ _

__“And he agreed?”_ _

__“Yeah. He’s not unreasonable, Harry.” Harry raises an eyebrow at this._ _

__“He’s just afraid of you.”_ _

__“Either way,” Taylor says, shrugging._ _

__Liam looks like he wants to say something as they cross through the sitting room, but Harry looks away, pointedly. Taylor grabs Harry’s hand and breaks into a run once they’re out of Liam’s sight._ _

__The grass is wet under their bare feet and the whole lawn is lit up under the silvery moonlight. It’s later than Harry thought; all the lights are off in the palace and none of the groundskeepers or gardeners are outside. No one spots the two small figures dashing toward the stable._ _

__Taylor doesn’t stop pulling him along until they get to the half-open stable door where she pauses, out of breath._ _

__“Ready?”_ _

__“To see kittens?” Harry says, unable to stop himself from smiling. “Always.” Taylor grins at him and unlatches the bottom half of the door. They slip in quietly, ducking into the last empty stall. Taylor drops into a crouch and Harry sits next to her. The stable is warm and quiet, the only sound the soft breathing of the horses._ _

__“Look,” Taylor whispers. The kittens are all curled around each other in a pile near the sleeping mother cat._ _

__“They’re so tiny,” Harry whispers back._ _

__“They were just born four days ago. I’ve been spending a lot of time down here, just watching them sleep.”_ _

__“Oh,” Harry asks, cautious. It’s unlike Taylor to volunteer information about herself, even something simple like this._ _

__“Haven’t felt like being around people much, I guess.”_ _

__“I understand that feeling,” Harry says, voice still quiet. The corner of Taylor’s mouth twitches up. “What?”_ _

__“Nothing. It’s just, you’re one of the friendliest people I know. You love everyone.”_ _

__“Not everyone,” Harry says, disgruntled._ _

__“It’s not a criticism. It’s a good thing. You’re,” she sighs and then starts again. “It’s tiring sometimes, having to work so hard. To get people to like you while still respecting you. It comes so naturally to you.” Harry furrows his eyebrows, confused._ _

__“It comes way more naturally to you,” he points out. “Everyone likes you.” Taylor snorts._ _

__“No they don’t. Harry, why do you think I made friends with you. When we were kids, I mean?”_ _

__“I don’t know.”_ _

__“You’re...” she pauses. “You’re so open about things. You always have been. Everyone can always tell just how you’re feeling.”_ _

__“I’m keeping this massive secret,” he points out. He still hasn’t decided whether he’s offended or flattered that Taylor thinks of him this way. As some sort of hyper-honest overly genuine sap._ _

__“I know,” Taylor says, smiling sadly. “That’s why I keep pushing you to tell someone. To do something about it. It’s...hiding isn’t good for you. It makes you bitter.”_ _

__“I can’t,” Harry says, voice barely pushing through his rapidly closing throat. “I thought we were done with this.” Taylor purses her lips and shakes her head._ _

__“Just listen to me, okay?” she breathes in to continue, but Harry cuts her off._ _

__“Is this about me, or you?” he says, voice sharp in the quiet stable._ _

__“What?”_ _

__“You don’t tell me _anything_ , Taylor. You know everything about me, but I only find things out when you can’t hold it in any more. Telling me things is never your first instinct.”_ _

__“That’s not true,” she argues._ _

__“It is true. You never mention your parents; why you live in opposite ends of the palace. You _still_ haven’t told me what’s going on with you and Cara.”_ _

__“I...”_ _

__“Don’t deny it, I know there’s still something happening. Whenever I see her, you’re lurking around somewhere nearby. All you ever want to talk about is me. What I’m going to do, who I’m going to tell about things.”_ _

__“That’s just being a good friend!”_ _

__“No it’s not! You just...it’s not fair that you expect me to tell you everything and let you decide things for me when you don’t do the same thing.”_ _

__“I just want to help,” she says, voice small. Harry sighs and grabs her hands._ _

__“I know you do. But, you can’t shut me out like this. It’s just not fair, to either of us. You can’t do everything alone, Taylor.”_ _

__“You need more help than me.”_ _

__“Wow, thanks,” Harry snaps, pulling away._ _

__“That’s not what I meant.”_ _

__“Come find me when you’re ready to actually talk.”_ _

__“Harry, _wait_.” He ignores her and clambers to his feet. “I’m sorry. You know I didn’t mean it that way.” She tries to grab his wrist and he steps back._ _

__“Stop trying to control my life just because you don’t know what to do with yours,” Harry snaps. Taylor’s face closes off abruptly and she stops reaching for him. She’s quiet for so long that Harry almost takes it back, but then._ _

__“Don’t come crying to me when this all falls down around your head, Harry. I’ll just say I told you so.” Harry wants to point out that he won’t be crying to anyone because he’ll be cursed with eternal sleep, but that feels over the line somehow. Maybe. He and Taylor are fighting so much these days he can’t tell where the line is anymore. Before he can decide, she pushes past him and storms out of the stable._ _

__Harry sinks back down into the hay. He doesn’t think even four day old kittens are going to be able to fix this one._ _

__\---_ _

__Harry can’t help being a little subdued at his final fitting with Louis. He doesn’t know how to fix things with Taylor and Liam’s still angry at him for sneaking away from the palace. Worst of all, the contest is starting in a few days and Harry’s freedom will all but disappear._ _

__He does perk up a bit when he sees Louis has the compass._ _

__“You’re wearing it,” he says, smiling down at the golden bird._ _

__“Of course I am! It was a great gift,” Louis says, passing over the final suit for Harry to try on. His other four designs have all been altered and hung up with the rest of Harry’s clothing for the contest. All they have left to do is fix a few hems on this one and then Louis will be going home to finish up Lottie and Fizzy’s dresses in the days leading up to the contest. Harry would usually be glad to be done being poked and prodded at, but in this case he’s disappointed they have so little left to accomplish. Louis is finished after barely ten minutes and Harry fights off a sulk as he helps him put away his things._ _

__“What appointments do you have this afternoon?” Louis asks casually._ _

__“Nothing much,” Harry answers honestly. “Why?”_ _

__“I’d like to show you something. If you aren’t too busy, that is.” Harry nods eagerly, then pauses._ _

__“Oh. I have got to ask Liam,” he mutters, embarrassed._ _

__“Of course. Wouldn’t want him to think a wicked witch had spirited you away,” Louis teases. Harry giggles and grabs Louis’ hand._ _

__“Let’s go find him. Maybe if we’re very polite he’ll let us go unsupervised!”_ _

__Politeness turns out to be more or less unnecessary as Liam is quite thoroughly occupied. He and Niall are hovering around Zayn’s frame and peering into it intently. Harry can’t see more than the top of Zayn’s head, but he can hear him complaining._ _

__“When I agreed to this I didn’t realize there would be _quite_ so much staring,” Zayn grumbles._ _

__“Sorry,” Niall says. “We’ve just got to be sure we’ve got the angle right for the candles.”_ _

__“What’s going on here?” Louis asks, voice lightly amused._ _

__“Niall thinks he might be able to get Zayn out of the mirror!” Liam says excitedly._ _

__“I don’t want anyone to get their hopes up,” Niall says. “It’s only a remote chance and will require a great deal of work.”_ _

__“Really though?” Harry says. “That’s fantastic!” Niall shrugs._ _

__“I was flipping around in that book Caroline lent me.”_ _

__“The one you’ve been using as a doorstop,” Liam says drily._ _

__“Yes that one,” Niall says, ignoring Liam’s tone. “It’s really boring and absolutely no help with Harry’s situation, but there is a rather long rambling section on disenchanting glassware.”_ _

__“I object to being characterized as _glassware_ ,” Zayn protests._ _

__“I said we’d need to adapt it!” Niall says._ _

__“You’re much too beautiful to be called glassware,” Liam says to Zayn. Niall, Louis, and Harry all roll their eyes at this line but Zayn preens a bit and proceeds to stare at Liam from under his eyelashes._ _

__“Anyway,” Louis breaks in, “I’m taking Hazza out for a final celebration before he’s swamped with his duties as the most eligible bachelor in all the lands.” He concludes the sentence with a dramatic hand gesture indicating the aforementioned Hazza, who is now giggling into his palm._ _

__“Can I go, Liam?” Harry pleads._ _

__“Be careful,” Liam says absently. “Are we certain white candles are the best bet?”_ _

__“They’re for breaking enchantments. We don’t want to accidentally trap another person in there with him,” Niall says practically._ _

__“It’s cramped enough in here as it is!” Zayn exclaims. Harry, for once, is quite happy to be ignored._ _

__“Let’s go,” he whispers to Louis. Louis nods and holds a finger to his lips, grabbing Harry’s hand and tugging him down the stairs and out of the palace._ _

__Once the initial excitement of escaping from Liam’s watchful eye has passed, Harry starts to get anxious. Louis just keeps glancing over at him and not saying anything, which is not helping with the nerves._ _

__“Where are we going?” Harry asks. They’re still inside the main part of the capital city, but it’s big and Harry doesn’t get out a lot._ _

__“It’s a surprise,” Louis says, smirking._ _

__“That’s not very comforting!” Louis laughs._ _

__“I’ll get you back to Liam in one piece, don’t worry.”_ _

__“Hmph.” Harry tries pouting but Louis resolutely ignores him._ _

__It’s not until they’re nearly there that Harry gets it._ _

__“The harbor?” he asks, stopping. Louis pulls a face._ _

__“You’ve ruined the surprise now!”_ _

__“Aw I’m sorry.” Harry strikes a dramatically quizzical pose. “Where _could_ we be going? Louis is _so mysterious_ I just _don’t know_.”_ _

__“Rude. I’m very mysterious.” Harry giggles. “Okay, fine. Mysteriousity isn’t my best trait.”_ _

__“I don’t think that’s a word.”_ _

__“Just hush and come over here, your ridiculous highness.” Harry laughs again but lets Louis tug him along. The harbor is at the base of a large terraced hill with several overlooks along the top and Louis leads Harry over to one. It’s fairly quiet and out of the way contrasted with the busy docks below, separated by distance and a waist-high wall running around the edge. Louis props his elbows on the wall and leans over just shy of dangerously. Harry fights the urge to tug him back. He’s thoroughly baffled by this whole expedition, but he isn’t going to complain about getting to see Louis for longer._ _

__They stand in silence and watch the ships. Well, Louis watches the ships. Harry is a little too focused on sneaking peeks at Louis to really notice much else._ _

__“Have you ever been sailing?” Louis asks, finally._ _

__“No,” Harry says, a bit regretfully. Is sailing some kind of secret passion of Louis’? Is this a deal breaker? “Although maybe I should suggest it. I doubt there are many roses in the middle of the ocean.” The corner of Louis’ mouth quirks up and he turns to look at Harry fully._ _

__“Me neither. Never gone.”_ _

__“But you’d like to?” Harry asks. Louis sighs and turns back toward the water._ _

__“I don’t know. It’s like you said, when you gave me this.” He glances down at the compass, flipping it open briefly before tucking it away again carefully. “I’ve always wanted to travel, you know? See somewhere other than Doncaster and Arixia and the short journey in between. There’s so much out there. I mean, I know I’m very lucky in my family and my title and my life, but...” Louis trails off, glancing over at Harry._ _

__“I know what you mean,” Harry says quietly. “It can be a bit suffocating, can’t it? The weight of people’s expectations is especially heavy when all you really want is freedom.” Louis nods._ _

__“You know,” he starts, pausing to level a serious look at Harry. “And you aren’t to tell Lottie this when you meet her.” Harry smiles a little and crosses his heart. “Sometimes I wish I weren’t the eldest. I mean, I love being an older brother and I _definitely_ wouldn’t want to give up the privilege of always being right that comes along with being eldest, but it would be better for everyone if Lottie were the one to inherit.” Harry opens his mouth to protest this, but Louis cuts him off. “No, I don’t mean because I’d be so terrible or anything like that. It’s just, she’s got more of an aptitude for it. She certainly has more ambition,” Louis says. “After all, she’s set on marrying you.” He says it like it’s meant to be a joke but his voice is oddly flat. Harry furrows his eyebrows in confusion._ _

__“Should I not invite her?”_ _

__“What?” Louis asks, seeming equally confused._ _

__“If you don’t want me to marry her, I won’t?” Harry says, voice going up at the end. He’s not sure if he should be insulted by this or not. On the one hand, he has absolutely no interest in anything romantic with Louis’ sister (or anyone other than Louis himself, really.) On the other hand, it’s not exactly a positive sign if Louis is warning him away from her, is it? Does Louis not think Harry is good husband material? Is that what this is about?_ _

__“You can marry her if you want to marry her,” Louis snaps._ _

__“I haven’t even met her,” Harry says, bewildered. Louis breathes in through his nose and then out, sharply._ _

__“This was a stupid idea. Let’s just go,” he says, shoving off the wall and striding away._ _

__“Louis, wait,” Harry calls after him, voice pleading. “I don’t understand.” Louis stops but doesn’t turn._ _

__“Come on, Harry,” he says._ _

__Louis is walking too fast to really have a proper conversation on the way back to the castle and Harry is getting increasingly frustrated. He’s fairly certain he missed some vital subtext to this whole expedition but he’s not sure what it is or how to figure it out. It’s not until they reach the edge of the castle grounds and Louis mumbles a goodbye that Harry snaps into action._ _

__“Wait,” he says, reaching out and grabbing Louis’ wrist. Louis doesn’t pull away, but he also doesn’t look at Harry. “Look, I don’t know what this was about or what went wrong exactly. I’m glad you showed me the boats? That was nice?” Louis still isn’t responding so Harry ploughs on. “I don’t know if this will make you feel better or worse about the whole contest thing but I seriously doubt I’m going to end up marrying anyone.” Louis looks up, finally, and Harry can’t help but give a silent sigh of relief._ _

__“What does that mean?” Louis asks, confused._ _

__“Well, um. I just...I’m not going to find my soulmate from some absurd contest designed by a bunch of magical beings who barely know me,” Harry says._ _

__“Don’t you have to, though? Isn’t that how this whole thing works?” Louis presses._ _

__“If I knew how this worked everything would be a lot easier,” Harry says ruefully. Louis sighs and steps a little closer to him._ _

__“Harry, you’re going to find someone.”_ _

__“I’m...” Harry breathes out sharply in frustration. “Come here for a minute.”_ _

__“Okay,” Louis says hesitantly. Harry leads him over to a stone bench tucked into a grove. Louis perches on the edge cautiously. “Are you going to sit?” Louis asks._ _

__“I never expected to survive this curse,” Harry says at the same time. “Er. Yeah, I can sit if you want?”_ _

__“But people always survive,” Louis says practically. “I’m sure the girl who’s destined to break the curse will show up. That’s just how magic works, right?”_ _

__“There isn’t a girl, though.”_ _

__“I’m...”_ _

__“No, this isn’t me being pessimistic, Louis. I’m gay. I’m pretty certain that means that my true love isn’t a girl.”_ _

__“Oh,” Louis says, blinking rapidly._ _

__“It’s just,” Harry sighs, sitting down next to him on the bench. “I’ve known I’m gay for a long time, you know? And I’ve tried to ask, to make sure. It’s not like I _want_ to be cursed. I’ve just heard, over and over again, that my true love is definitely a girl. Practically everything else has varied, but that one thing has stayed the same.”_ _

__“But,” Louis protests, “you can’t just give up hope. Maybe a boy can break the curse.” Harry is shaking his head before Louis even finishes speaking._ _

__“Have you ever heard of that happening? It’s always a valiant knight rescuing a princess or a maiden saving a poor doomed prince.”_ _

__“Just because that’s the way it’s always been doesn’t mean that’s the way it always is going to be. Or that things have to stay the same,” Louis argues._ _

__“Look, Louis. It’s fine. I’m fine with it. I’ve had a long time to accept it.”_ _

__“I just...”_ _

__“Really. Please, just believe me. I already get enough lecturing about this from Taylor. I have to do this contest because it’s my last few months and my mother wants to think there’s a chance. I’d like to just enjoy the time I have left, okay?” Harry pleads._ _

__“Yeah, all right,” Louis says hesitantly._ _

__“The only reason I’m telling you is because...well not the only reason. I trust you and I’m really glad I met you and I want you to know things about me. But my point is, you don’t have to worry about me marrying your sister.”_ _

__“What?” Louis asks, confused._ _

__“That...you were all upset, earlier? Because you thought I might marry Lottie?”_ _

__“I wasn’t upset about that,” Louis objects. Harry gives him a look. “Well, I was. It’s stupid,” Louis mutters. “I just. I was excited to spend time with you during the contest and I guess I just got jealous that you wanted to hang out with Lottie instead.” Harry laughs and then tries to stifle it when Louis looks offended._ _

__“No! That’s sweet. But Louis, I would never pick Lottie over you. I’d never pick anyone over you,” he says sincerely. Louis blushes and looks down._ _

__“I’d never pick anyone over you either,” he mumbles._ _

__“What was that?” Harry teases. Louis pinches him. The retaliation effort is undercut slightly by the fact that he immediately looks concerned when Harry winces._ _

__“I should probably get you back to Liam,” Louis says reluctantly._ _

__“Yeah,” Harry says, not moving._ _

__“I have to get home and finish Lottie and Fizzy’s wardrobe alterations. They’ll kill me if they aren’t absolutely the most fashionable girls in the palace.”_ _

__“I’m excited to meet them. I bet they have loads of embarrassing childhood stories about you,” Harry says._ _

__“Don’t you dare,” Louis says, outraged. Harry giggles and hops up._ _

__“I’ll see you soon, Lou. I’m glad you’re going to be with me through this whole thing,” Harry says. He pauses and then leans forward to kiss Louis’ cheek softly before dashing into the palace._ _

__Louis sits on the bench for a long time after that._ _

__\---_ _

__“You’re awfully cheerful today, darling,” the queen says. “Excited about the ladies arriving later today?”_ _

__“You could say that,” Harry says evasively._ _

__“Well I’m glad you’ve warmed up to this idea. It really is the most efficient way to screen all your potential brides at once.” Harry nods in what he hopes is a convincing way; he’s having trouble focusing on the contest when Louis will be arriving in less than an hour. Seeing Louis is always exciting but Harry’s a bit nervous after their last conversation. Hopefully Louis will take Harry at his word; he wants to enjoy his last few months as much as possible while fulfilling his duties as a prince and a son._ _

__Unfortunately, Harry’s trapped running last minute security drills with Liam right up until the official opening ceremony of the contest. He barely has time to get dressed, let alone sneak away to find Louis. Harry doesn’t even see Louis until everyone’s seated in the ballroom waiting for the first challenge to be announced. No one knows quite what to expect; the air is practically buzzing with nervous anticipation and Harry can’t help shifting around in his seat uncomfortably._ _

__Harry chose the first challenge specifically. He let Cara and Kendall make most of the decisions about which ten tasks will eliminate 59 of the 60 princess hopefuls, but this one he wanted a say in. For one, he doesn’t want the environment to get too competitive. There’s no point complicating everyone’s life more than necessary. Hopefully, some of the girls will find a husband in the twenty or so brothers and cousins who are attending as companions. The others should at least enjoy themselves. That’s what Harry is hoping, anyway._ _

__It’s day one and he’s a bit less optimistic. These women seem scarily serious about marrying him. Not for the first time, Harry wonders if he’s made the right choice. It seemed easiest, three months ago, to just indulge his mother: let her think there is a chance Harry will survive his eighteenth birthday and go on to marry a nice girl and rule Arixia. She was so intent on this contest, convinced it would be the thing to save him. Harry just didn’t have the heart to let her down, to let the entire kingdom down. Now, though, he wonders if he’s doing that anyway. At least the first challenge is absurd enough that it should be enjoyable for all involved._ _

__James has been chosen as the master of ceremonies; Cara is too busy behind the scenes and Kendall hates speaking in front of crowds. He seems to be warming to the role already, standing up on the dais at the end of the ballroom and clearing his throat pompously._ _

__“Welcome, one and all! We are gathered here today to find a bride for our beloved Prince Harry. You ladies have travelled from all over Arixia and the neighboring kingdoms to have a shot at romance and true love! Give yourselves a round of applause!” _Beloved Prince_ Harry sinks lower in his chair as everyone applauds politely. He should definitely have insisted on a seat in the back. Or perhaps a paper bag to go over his head. This is already excruciating. Everyone is staring at him like he’s the last strawberry tart on the banquet table and they haven’t eaten in weeks. James continues speaking after the applause fades out._ _

__“I know you’re all eagerly awaiting my explanation of the first challenge, specially chosen by Prince Harry himself.” Approving murmurs. Harry attempts to open the floor underneath him using sheer willpower. “First, though, it’s time to mingle! Get to know your competition, ladies!” James says with a broad wink. All of the girls are too well-bred to show annoyance at this blatant delaying tactic, but Harry is fairly certain James is being graphically murdered in several heads at the moment._ _

__Harry manages to sneak out of the ballroom during the introductions. The girls have all been barred from talking to him until the first three challenges are over, so Harry’s presence isn’t strictly necessary from this point on. It’s been strongly implied by his mother (via Kendall), though, that Harry is to observe each stage of the competition carefully. For the next ten minutes or so, he’s free. Possibly more if no one manages to locate him. Harry thinks, rather gloomily, that hiding behind curtains to avoid being stared at shouldn’t be as large a part of being royal as it apparently is._ _

__“I can see your toes, you know,” a voice says. Harry smiles into the curtain._ _

__“How is that possible? I was shutting my eyes so no one could see me.”_ _

__“I think that only works if you’re under six,” Louis says with a laugh. “Why are we hiding?” he whispers, pulling the curtain to the side and ducking behind it._ _

__“Well, I don’t know why you’re hiding,” Harry says seriously. “I’m hiding because my home has been invaded.”_ _

__“That sounds rather dangerous.”_ _

__“Oh it is. It’s either hide or be carried off and betrothed.” Louis’ mouth twitches up on one side._ _

__“That doesn’t sound too terrible. Isn’t all of this meant to find someone you’ll love?” Harry sighs._ _

__“I’m being selfish by hiding. They’ve all come all this way...” He trails off and thunks his head back against the wall. Louis doesn’t say anything for a minute, then he reaches out and laces their hands together._ _

__“Be selfish for a minute.” Harry fights back a smile and doesn’t say anything. For a moment, he just lets himself revel in the feel of Louis’ hand in his, the fragile quiet between them, the close semi-darkness behind the curtains. He takes a deep breath._ _

__“I’m glad you’re here,” he whispers. Louis squeezes his hand. “I wouldn’t want to do this alone.”_ _

__“Of course,” Louis says, briefly serious. “Whatever you need.”_ _

__“We should probably go back,” Harry says, reluctant. Louis shrugs._ _

__“I doubt anyone’s missing me, and you could possibly get away with hiding for ten more minutes or so.”_ _

__“Isn’t Lottie going to be upset? If you’re not with her, I mean.” Louis rolls his eyes._ _

__“She’s taking this way too seriously already. Can’t believe she wants to marry you so badly,” Louis jokes, poking Harry in the ribs with his free hand._ _

__“Hey! I’m a catch,” Harry says, pouting._ _

__“Of course you are,” Louis says. Harry giggles._ _

__“I could,” he starts, stopping and shaking his head._ _

__“What?”_ _

__“I could maybe help her? Like, I don’t know how much of an asset I’ll actually be, but I could try? I can at least find out what the challenges are and tell her in advance?”_ _

__“Why would you want to do that?” Louis asks, face unreadable._ _

__“I don’t have to,” Harry says, quickly. “I just thought...I want to help you. And it would give me a chance to see you more. Never mind, it was a stupid idea.”_ _

__“No,” Louis says, face softening. “That’s sweet. Thank you.” Harry smiles and ducks his head._ _

__“Harry,” Kendall’s irritated voice breaks the silence of the room. “I can see your ridiculous shoes. Get out here, James wants you to announce the first challenge.” Harry shoots Louis a panicked look and Louis stifles a giggle into Harry’s shoulder._ _

__“Coming,” Harry calls. “I’ll find out as much as I can about the second challenge tonight,” he continues in an undertone. “Where are you staying?”_ _

__“Fourth floor, fifth door on the right.” Harry nods in acknowledgement._ _

__“Harry,” Kendall says sharply. “Don’t make me pull you out of there.”_ _

__“Sorry,” he calls, stepping out from behind the curtains carefully so Louis isn’t revealed. “I’m coming.” She rolls her eyes and tows him back toward the hall._ _

__“Keep it short; just announce the first challenge and don’t give them any hints or advice. And _no jokes_.”_ _

__“Of course. We wouldn’t want them to enjoy themselves,” Harry says. Kendall looks at him like she can’t tell if he’s being sarcastic or not._ _

__“Just get in there. James is waiting for you.”_ _

__Harry opens the side door quietly and slinks up onto the dais in the midst of James’ pontificating. He’s noticed immediately, all the heads in the audience swivel toward him and he freezes midway to his chair._ _

__“Ah, your highness,” James says, cheerfully. “Just in time. We thought you might want to announce the first challenge!”_ _

__“Um,” Harry says. James gestures for him to speak up. “Right. So, the first challenge has to do with hair? Everyone will be creating a formal hair style for, like, a ball or something?” Harry trails off. They’re all just _staring_ at him, not reacting. James takes pity on him and steps in._ _

__“You will all have five hours to design and construct! At the end of that time, the panel of judges will evaluate your creation!” He continues explaining the rules but Harry tunes him out and sneaks back into his seat. This is already a disaster. None of these girls seem to have any interest in him as a person and they certainly don’t think his idea is interesting or quirky. Harry fights the urge to bury his head in his hands and forces himself to look out at the crowd instead. Nearly everyone is focused on James, so Louis, staring right back at Harry, stands out. When he catches Harry’s attention, he winks and pulls a face. Harry fights down a laugh but can’t help smiling fondly. At least this whole contest, this whole curse really, has one upside. At least he’s met Louis._ _

__\---_ _

__Harry sneaks into Louis’ room once he stops hearing footsteps out in the corridor. Getting across the palace is a bit hazardous. There are quite a few more servants than usual on staff, what with close to eighty extra people staying in the castle full time. The servants are much less likely than the guests to stay out of the halls, what with preparations for the next day frequently extending well into the night. Harry is fairly certain most of them won’t report back to James or Kendall that the prince is sneaking around the palace in the dead of night, but you can’t be too careful._ _

__After the door to Louis’ suite is closed behind him, Harry closes his eyes and heaves a sigh of relief._ _

__“About time.” Harry gives and undignified squawk and jumps a bit._ _

__“Louis,” he hisses. “Stop sneaking up on me!”_ _

__“You like it,” Louis smirks. Harry rolls his eyes._ _

__“Do you want to hear what the next challenge is or not?”_ _

__“Yeah, okay. Lottie’s pacing back in the sitting room, come on.”_ _

__“What about Fizzy?”_ _

__“She’s already asleep,” Louis laughs. “I think she’s happy just having made it this far, you know? Doesn’t particularly care about the outcome.” Harry nods. If Louis’ sisters weren’t participating, Harry would share the fact that he doesn’t particularly care about the outcome either._ _

__“Your highness,” a breathless voice says from behind them._ _

__“Oh. Hello,” Harry says, peeking around Louis to see a star-struck girl standing in the doorway to the next room. “Lottie?”_ _

__“That’s me,” she says, blushing and ducking her head. “It’s so kind of you to do this.”_ _

__“Of course.”_ _

__“All right,” Louis breaks in, voice sharp. “Let’s focus, here. Harry’s very busy.”_ _

__“Not really,” Harry says mildly. Lottie just stares at him, seemingly unaware that she’s nodding slightly. Louis rolls his eyes and grabs her arm._ _

__“Get it together,” he hisses. Lottie glares at him._ _

__“Don’t embarass me in front of the prince.”_ _

__“You’re embarrassing yourself!”_ _

__“Am not!”_ _

__“Are too! You’re practically drooling!”_ _

__“Shut _up_ , Louis!”_ _

__“Um,” Harry says. They both ignore him, busy glaring at each other. “So how did the first challenge go this afternoon?” Harry tries, hoping for a subject change. Lottie looks over at him._ _

__“You came up with the hair thing, right?” Harry nods. “What a brilliant idea. So insightful.”_ _

__“You said it was ‘complete nonsense’ earlier,” Louis mutters. Lottie elbows him in the side._ _

__“I think I did fairly well. The judges gave me an 8.9,” she says modestly._ _

__“That’s amazing!” Harry says admiringly. “I heard the highest score was a 9.2.”_ _

__“You have some competition, Lottie,” Louis snarks._ _

__“Why weren’t you judging, your highness? I’m sure _your_ feelings should mean the most in all of this.”_ _

__“Oh, well, thank you for saying that. I’m afraid my mother doesn’t necessarily agree with you,” Harry says drily._ _

__“You’re judging some of them, though, right?” Louis says, eager to reestablish himself as the resident Harry expert._ _

__“Yes,” Harry says. “I’m with the panel for the third onward, pretty much. Not the fifth or the ninth, though.” He turns to Lottie. “I don’t actually know how much help I’ll be. I just wanted to try and do what I could, you know. For Louis.” Louis smiles at him and Harry beams back. Lottie looks between them in confusion._ _

__“Right,” she says slowly. “Now about the second challenge.”_ _

__\---_ _

__Lottie checks the pouch sewn into the inside of her gown one last time before leaving the room, slipping her hand in carefully and touching the small white stones. Her skirt is big and ruffled enough to hide the bulge, but she can’t help being nervous about getting caught._ _

__“Lady Charlotte, Lady Felicite. We’re ready for you.”_ _

__“Coming!” Fizzy trills. “I’ll try to seem extra clumsy so they’re less focused on you,” she whispers to Lottie. Lottie nods and hugs her briefly._ _

__They leave the room and walk down through the palace, trailing the groom who has been assigned to escort them for this challenge. Lottie tries to distract herself by watching other ladies and other grooms, fighting the temptation to fidget with the stones in her pocket. They’re all in groups of five ladies to a groom, which is lucky; less attention will be on Lottie and their plan has more chance of success. Still, she’s nervous. She doesn’t want to let the prince down after he’s put extra effort into helping her._ _

__The groom stops them at the edge of the hedge maze. It’s been cultivated into a taller and broader shape specially for this challenge, no longer a simple lawn ornament but a genuine challenge._ _

__“Blindfolds on, ladies,” the groom says politely, handing them each a scrap of fabric. Lottie takes a deep breath and secures the cloth across her eyes. She’s not sure if it’s more comforting or nerve-wracking that the last thing she sees is fifty-nine other girls doing the same thing._ _

__The paths are all even and wide, so it’s fairly simple to follow the sound of the groom’s voice leading their group deeper into the maze. Lottie falls to the back, slipping her hand into her pocket and quietly dropping the white stones every few yards. Meanwhile, Fizzy stumbles around and walks into hedges at the front so the exasperated groom has to focus on helping her. He drops them off around the maze one by one; Lottie is the second to be abandoned. The rule is, they can take their blindfolds off and start trying to solve the maze as soon as they can no longer hear his voice. The girls will be awarded points based on how quickly they can get back to the palace. After three hours, anyone who hasn’t solved the maze will be located and brought back, with no points awarded._ _

__Lottie stands silently against the hedge and waits for the groom’s directions to fade out. She doesn’t want to risk moving too early and revealing her strategy. When she’s certain she’s alone, Lottie pulls the blindfold off and ties it around her wrist to keep it out of the way. She starts scouring the ground for the first pebble, finding it a couple yards away. She bends down and scoops it up, grimacing at the dirt clinging to the bottom but tucking it into her pocket anyway. Better safe than sorry; she doesn’t want to leave any evidence behind._ _

__The trail toward the edge of the maze is fairly simple to follow. She has to stop and look confused occasionally as other girls cross paths with her, but mostly she just follows the trail set out by the stones. As she gets close to the edge of the maze, she slows down a little. Better not solve the maze too quickly and arouse suspicion. After a girl sprints past her, though, nearly shoving Lottie to the ground in her haste, Lottie grits her teeth and finishes the maze quickly._ _

__She gets back to the palace third, after the pusher and another smug-looking girl who apparently came in first._ _

__“Congratulations,” Lottie says, reaching out to shake their hands. They both wince at the dirt on her palms but force themselves to accept for politeness’ sake. Lottie fights down a smirk._ _

__\---_ _

__“You have to be there,” James says firmly._ _

__“I didn’t even get a say in who’s staying,” Harry complains._ _

__“You still have to be there.” Harry fights the urge to pout. James is in charge of announcing which girls are leaving after the first week and Harry really does not want to attend. At least he’s fairly confident Lottie is staying; she did really well in both of the challenges._ _

__Harry doesn’t have to worry for long. Both Lottie and Fizzy are in the first set of names announced; they’re two among the forty girls who have definitely made it through to the next week and are released almost immediately. The remaining twenty girls cluster anxiously around James, whose penchant for dramatic pauses is irritating Harry more and more. Harry is seated on the dais again, this time with his mother, Cara, Kendall, and Taylor._ _

__The eliminations drag by painfully slowly. James alternates calling out girls who are moving on to the next round and girls who are going home. The girls who weren’t eliminated all look relieved, which is nice. The ten girls, who aren’t, though, are hard to watch. Five of them actually cry, which makes Harry feel incredibly guilty in spite of the fact that he had absolutely no say in this round. Two of them just sort of stare stoically into space until they’re dismissed to go pack up their things and the remaining three look...almost happy. Which, that should maybe make Harry feel insulted but to be honest it’s a relief._ _

__He drags himself over to the group of ten, bracing himself to thank them for coming and give them a polite dismissal. Most of them leave quickly, eager to retreat to the relative privacy of their rooms. Harry gets briefly held up with back-patting and murmuring vaguely comforting nonsense when one of the criers, he’s not even sure of her name, attaches herself to him. She’s fairly young and doesn’t even seem to really notice who it is propping her up, so Harry thinks it’s probably more embarrassment and frustration than anything to do with actually marrying him. Her friend comes to take her away eventually and Harry just is left with two of the girls who looked relieved to go home._ _

__“Can I help either of you with something,” he says politely. “Sorry, I don’t know your names.”_ _

__“I’m Alexa and this is Daisy,” one of the girls says, looking at her friend._ _

__“We just wanted to say thank you,” the other girl continues._ _

__“Oh?” Harry says, confused. “It’s not...like, for being so uninteresting that you don’t regret being taken out of the running or something is it?”_ _

__“No,” Alexa laughs. “It’s...I would never have met Daisy if you hadn’t had this contest. And now,” she smiles, looking down at her hands. Daisy reaches out and hooks her little finger around Alexa’s._ _

__“We’re just really grateful,” Daisy says. “Finding someone you love, someone who fits you so perfectly; it’s such an amazing feeling. We just wanted to say, we hope you find that, too.”_ _

__“Sorry if we bothered you,” Alexa says, when Harry doesn’t respond for a moment, too overwhelmed with some unnameable emotion._ _

__“No! I’m sorry, I’m just really touched,” he says. “Thank you so much for telling me.” Daisy flashes a grin at him._ _

__“Let’s go home,” she whispers to Alexa, grabbing her hand. They walk away without looking back and Harry is left alone in the now-silent ballroom._ _

__He cries himself to sleep that night and he honestly can’t tell if it’s because he’s so happy or because he’s so sad._ _

__\---_ _

__“Compatibility? What the hell does compatability mean?” Louis asks._ _

__“I think it’s how well they get along,” Fizzy pipes up._ _

__“Yes, I knew that,” Louis mutters. “I meant, how are they judging that? None of you are supposed to have even met each other.” Harry tries to shrug, but Lottie grabs his shoulders and pushes them back down._ _

__“Tell me everything about you,” she says, staring him down. Harry’s eyes widen._ _

__“Okay, Lottie, let’s take a step back,” Louis says. If he pulls her hands off Harry with more relish than is strictly necessary, no one notices._ _

__“I’m not entirely sure what to tell you,” Harry apologizes. “My mother wrote the questions.” Lottie, hands still trapped between Louis’, shoots him a look. “Um. I’ll try?”_ _

__“Let _go_ , Louis. I need to take notes. Fizzy, where’s my quill?”_ _

__“I’ve got it!”_ _

__“It’s past midnight,” Louis says, aghast. “How long is this going to last?”_ _

__“You can leave if you want,” Lottie snaps. “You distract Harry, anyway.”_ _

__“I do not,” Louis says hotly. Harry fights down a smile and hooks his little finger through Louis’._ _

__“You can help us think of questions,” he says, placating. Louis pouts a bit but snuggles closer to Harry’s side and gestures at Lottie to start._ _

__“Hmm. Any allergies?”_ _

__“Roses,” Harry says seriously. Louis snorts and Lottie glares at him._ _

__“Favorite color?”_ _

__“Orange. I like the fruit colors.”_ _

__“Fruits come in more colors than orange,” Fizzy points out._ _

__“That’s true.” Harry ponders for a moment. “Blue is nice, too. And yellow.”_ _

__Lottie writes down _Fruit colored things.__ _

__“Do you collect anything?” Lottie continues._ _

__“No. Liam does, though.”_ _

__“Oh does he?” Louis asks._ _

__“Yeah. Stone turtles.”_ _

__“Of course he does.” Lottie coughs loudly._ _

__“You’re right. You _definitely_ don’t distract him,” she says once they look at her._ _

__“Sorry,” Harry says._ _

__“Maybe if your questions weren’t so boring,” Louis says at the same time. Harry breaks into the sibling staring contest that erupts by pulling the paper out of Lottie’s hands._ _

__“I’ll just write some things down, okay? Louis is right, it is pretty late. I’ll try and sneak away after they explain the rules tomorrow morning.”_ _

__“You don’t have to go,” Louis protests._ _

__“It’s really better this way,” Harry says, smiling tightly. “I have to be up early to help judge tomorrow anyway.”_ _

__“Oh yeah, you’re on this panel, right?” Fizzy asks._ _

__“Yep,” Harry says, unenthusiastically. It’s becoming increasingly obvious as this contest goes on exactly how little his input means. He’s already been informed (again, via Kendall) that he won’t be present in any of the elimination discussions before the final five. He’s also been encouraged to ‘keep his comments short and to the point,’ and only got a shrug in response when he pointed out that _Harry_ is the one who is supposed to be getting married here, not his mother._ _

__“I’ll try to make it fun for you,” Fizzy says cheerfully._ _

__“Thanks Fizzy,” Harry says, smiling softly at her. He sighs and slips Lottie’s list into his trouser pocket._ _

__“It will be fine,” Lottie says determinedly. “I’ll just answer the questions as I think a queen would.” Louis snorts and rolls his eyes._ _

__“That’s probably the best strategy,” Harry points out._ _

__“Definitely don’t mention that time you convinced Fizzy to give you all her best dolls for some ‘magic’ beans from the garden.”_ _

__“ _Louis_!” she shrieks, leaping at him and then chasing him when he retreats._ _

__“She did give them back after mother found out, to be fair,” Fizzy says. No one hears her except Harry; Louis and Lottie have each grabbed a bolster from the bed and are stalking each other around the room. Harry sneaks back to his room while he still has the chance to get a few hours of sleep._ _

__\---_ _

__Contest three takes the entire day. The queen insists on being present for every single questioning, and there are fifty girls to get through. Harry stops paying attention after Lottie (number fourteen) and no one notices until he actually falls asleep during poor thirty-seven’s interview. After that, Cara intermittently pinches him to make sure he’s awake. It’s really annoying and will probably bruise, but when he tells her that she just starts pinching harder._ _

__Fizzy is number forty-two and she does, in fact, make her interview entertaining. Several of the earlier girls have snuck into the top gallery to watch and Harry can hear them giggling the whole time._ _

__The queen, unfortunately, is not amused, either by Fizzy or by the fact that over half of the (supposedly private) interviews were observed. Harry isn’t terribly surprised when Fizzy and the girl who has been pinpointed as the ringleader of the sneaks are eliminated at the end of the week. He is disappointed, though. Anyone who manages to circumvent his mother’s security just to spy on her competition seems worth getting to know. While Fizzy is still staying since Lottie has passed on to the next round, though, the other girl is going home._ _

__In any case, the second elimination is through and Harry has been ‘encouraged’ by James to mingle with the remaining girls. They’re all supposed to be serious contenders now, so he spends a bit of time walking around and talking to girls at random before heading over to where Fizzy, Lottie, and Louis are huddled in a corner._ _

__Fizzy looks a little subdued, but not terribly upset about being taken out of the contest. Harry opens his mouth to ask her if she’s alright but she interrupts him._ _

__“Lottie’s worried about the next challenge.”_ _

__“Oh?” Harry says politely._ _

__“She can’t bake at all.”_ _

__“I can bake a little,” Lottie mutters._ _

__“It’s not very polite to lie to the prince,” Louis says. Lottie pinches him._ _

__“You’re worse than I am in the kitchen, Louis. At least cook hasn’t actually banned me from going in.”_ _

__“I wasn’t _banned_ ,” Louis argues._ _

__“Well no one is expecting too much for this challenge. I mean, you are all nobility. Baking isn’t exactly within the normal range of skills,” Harry points out._ _

__“All the more reason for me to do well,” Lottie responds, voice firm. “I can use this chance to pull ahead!”_ _

__“Right,” Harry says slowly. “Well, I might have an idea, but I don’t know if you’re going to like it.” Before he can explain further, though, a girl approaches and winds her arm through Lottie’s._ _

__“Darling,” she says, smiling superciliously around the group. “You wouldn’t want to monopolize the prince, now would you? Not that I’m saying you are, of course, but you know. Some of the other girls...” she trails off delicately._ _

__“Of course that wasn’t my intention, Tatiana,” Lottie says through gritted teeth. She hasn’t been able to stand this girl since Tatiana pushed her in the hedge maze._ _

__“I’m certain it wasn’t!” Tatiana titters. She turns to Fizzy. “ _So_ sorry to see you go, by the way. Hopefully your sister doesn’t follow in your footsteps too soon.”_ _

__“Oh I’m _certain_ that won’t happen,” Lottie says, tone just shy of mocking. Tatiana doesn’t seem to notice, attention still on Fizzy._ _

__“I just thought the hairstyle you chose was so...brave. Going so far outside the realm of fashion like that! And of course your answers to the compatibility questions were awfully _original_.” Fizzy is looking more and more upset the longer Tatiana talks and Harry isn’t sure what to do to fix it. Lottie seems about ready to kick Tatiana in the shin and then shove her over, but Louis intervenes first._ _

__“What do you mean by original?”_ _

__“Oh,” Tatiana blinks at him. “You know, creative. Not what anyone would expect.”_ _

__“Ah. So you think the prince is boring?”_ _

__“That’s not what I said,” she sputters a bit, looking at Harry._ _

__“Right. You just said he wouldn’t be interested in anything unusual. Or, how did you put it again? Brave?”_ _

__“I...that’s not what I meant, obviously.”_ _

__“You _didn’t_ mean that Prince Harry is a coward?”_ _

__“No. Clearly that’s not what I meant,” she snaps. “I just...fashion has certain rules!”_ _

__“On that we agree,” Louis says, looking at her outfit with barely concealed disdain._ _

__“What does that mean?” Tatiana says, ignoring everyone now to focus her glare on Louis._ _

__“Oh, I couldn’t say. Unlike some people here, I don’t make unwanted comments about other people’s abilities.”_ _

__“That’s not...”_ _

__“I think I’m going to walk Fizzy back to her room,” Harry breaks in. “You’ll make my apologizes to everyone, won’t you Tatiana?”_ _

__“Of course,” she mutters, curtseying gracefully while glaring at Louis out of the corner of her eye._ _

__“Are you alright?” Harry asks, once they’re well away from the ballroom._ _

__“Yeah,” Fizzy says, smiling at him a little. “It’s okay. I wasn’t really expecting to win or anything. I certainly don’t want to marry you!”_ _

__“Hey,” Harry says teasingly._ _

__“No offense! You’re very nice. It’s just that you’re also clearly in love with my brother,” Fizzy says as they’re turning a corner. Harry accidentally runs into the wall._ _

__“What? I’m...what?”_ _

__“Don’t worry, Lottie doesn’t care. I do wish you could marry Louis instead but Lottie says you can’t because of the curse.”_ _

__“Right,” Harry says faintly. “Does...Louis doesn’t know does he?” Fizzy shrugs, which is less definitive than Harry was hoping for._ _

__“We haven’t talked to him about it.”_ _

__“Don’t.”_ _

__“Okay. Thanks for walking me back,” she says, grinning at him._ _

__“Sure,” Harry says faintly. Fizzy seems to realize he needs some sort of reassurance, because she keeps talking._ _

__“It’ll be much easier now that you can actually talk to us publically,” she says comfortingly. “You won’t have to sneak around any more.”_ _

__“That’s true.”_ _

__“I bet Lottie is telling Louis the same thing.” Harry blanches. “No, not about the you being in love with him. About the sneaking around. He’s been grumpy about having his sleep disturbed.”_ _

__“Right, yeah.”_ _

__“Are you okay?” Fizzy asks._ _

__“Great,” Harry says, smiling weakly._ _

__“You look a little pale.”_ _

__“I’ll try to do the next phase of the plan during the day,” Harry says. “See you soon. Bye.”_ _

__“Bye,” Fizzy calls after his rapidly repeating form._ _

__\---_ _

__“You’re right, this is _definitely_ much easier,” Louis says from where he’s perched on the edge of the balcony. Lottie shushes him. “They can’t hear us, Lottie.”_ _

__“Yeah thanks to me. If you keep talking someone is going to figure it out,” she hisses. Louis throws up his hands in annoyance and then rapidly regrets it when he nearly falls off the ledge. “Stop squirming around,” Lottie says, grabbing his elbow._ _

__“I don’t _squirm_ ; I’m a _Marquess_.”_ _

__“Are you guys still there?” Harry whispers through the curtain._ _

__“Unfortunately, yes,” Fizzy says._ _

__“You didn’t need to come!” Lottie responds._ _

__“Yes she did. We can’t smuggle twenty apples back to the room with just two of us,” Louis points out._ _

__“I got the apples,” Harry whispers again._ _

__“Why are you whispering?” Lottie asks. “Is she still there?”_ _

__“Oh. No,” Harry says at a normal volume._ _

__“Can we please come off the balcony then?” Fizzy asks._ _

__“Oops. Sorry, yeah.” Harry pulls the curtain aside and they all pile into his room. “The apples are over here.”_ _

__“Where did you hear about this woman again?” Lottie asks._ _

__“Um. She’s Niall’s mother’s best friend’s cousin’s aunt on the other side’s produce supplier? Her apples are supposed to be really good.”_ _

__“Those don’t even look real,” Louis says, fascinated. “They’re so _red_ , like apples from a painting or something.” He goes to take a bite out of one but Lottie smacks it out of his hand._ _

__“I don’t know how many I’ll need!”_ _

__“No apple-based dessert requires twenty apples, Lottie.”_ _

__“So now you’re the apple-based dessert expert.”_ _

__“I don’t need to be an expert to know that.” Fizzy starts shoving apples up her coat sleeve, ignoring her bickering siblings._ _

__“So are these apples magic or something?”_ _

__“Well...” Harry says. Lottie and Louis both look at him. Fizzy keeps stowing apples. “This is the part that you maybe won’t like. See, this woman is a little on the...ambiguous side of magic?”_ _

__“What does that mean?” Louis asks._ _

__“She supplies them for anyone who can pay. So, sometimes they are maybe used in curses. Occasionally. But these ones probably aren’t cursed.” Lottie groans._ _

__“ _Probably aren’t cursed_. Reassuring.”_ _

__“She’s fairly confident this is the kind that makes whatever they’re in taste really good and not the kind that gives you a really terrible rash if you’ve betrayed someone. They’re definitely not the kind that put you into an eternal sleep, though. That’s good, right?” Harry grins and shoots them a thumbs up but they all just stare back at him. “I’m sorry. It was short notice so supply was a little limited.”_ _

__“Well,” Lottie sighs, grabbing an apple. “At least if everything else goes wrong Tatiana will end up with a rash.”_ _

__\---_ _

__They do turn out to be the correct sort of apples. Lottie passes the challenge with flying colors in spite of her medium-low score in preparation._ _

__It’s good that all her scores are so high so far, because challenge five is a bit of a mystery. Harry isn’t on the panel and hasn’t been able to weasel information out of any of his mother’s assistants._ _

__“So this one is just all on me, then?” Lottie says, anxious._ _

__“Pack beforehand,” Louis says drily. When she barely even glares at him, though, he feels guilty. “I’m just teasing, Lots. All the judges love you.”_ _

__“It’s true,” Harry says. “You’re one of my mother’s favorites.”_ _

__“Aw, really?” Lottie asks._ _

__“Definitely!” Harry beams at her._ _

__“Why?” Louis asks, perhaps a little rudely if the way everyone looks at him is any indication._ _

__“Well, it’s actually partly because she thinks I’m falling in love with you,” Harry explains._ _

__“Oh,” Lottie says._ _

__“Why do you sound disappointed?” Louis asks, making a conscious effort to sound less snappy than he wants to be. “Isn’t that a good thing?”_ _

__“I mean, I guess. It would be nice to get by on my own merit.”_ _

__“Well maybe you should have thought of that before you asked for his help with all the challenges,” Louis points out. Lottie raises an eyebrow._ _

__“First of all, I didn’t ask, he offered. And second of all, he obviously doesn’t have feelings for me, Louis. You don’t have to be such an ass about it.”_ _

__“I don’t care if he has feelings for you or not,” Louis mutters. _He_ knows he’s being irrational. It’s completely unfair that Lottie knows as well._ _

__“Right,” Lottie snorts. Fizzy pokes her head into the room._ _

__“How much jewelry did we bring?” Louis blinks a bit in confusion but Lottie immediately goes over to her trunk._ _

__“How much do we need?”_ _

__“Probably all of it.”_ _

__“All of it?” Lottie asks, aghast. “I can’t walk around with no jewelry.”_ _

__“Loads of girls will be, don’t worry.”_ _

__“What is going on?” Louis asks, confused. Harry, who is standing the closest to Lottie, is slowly being transformed into a jewelry box._ _

__“Well, you know how no one knew what was happening in the fifth challenge? We found out,” Fizzy says._ _

__“What is it!” Lottie shrieks. Harry winces and one of the tiaras perched on his head slips dangerously. Louis adjusts it._ _

__“I don’t know exactly. Elaine told me there’s this man going around offering to help people, though. You just have to give him the weight of a newborn baby in jewelry,” Fizzy explains. Lottie nods like this makes complete sense and continues adorning Harry._ _

__“That makes no sense,” Louis says._ _

__“Calm down, we won’t use your jewelry,” Lottie snaps._ _

__“I don’t have any jewelry.”_ _

__

__“Exactly. Now stop complaining and help me sort this.”_ _

__“I like this necklace,” Harry says. “Can I keep it?”_ _

__“If it’s extra beyond the baby,” Lottie says, patting his cheek and then tugging his arm out straight so she can start fastening bracelets around it. Harry dimples._ _

__“We aren’t giving some strange man all the family jewels,” Louis complains. “Am I the only one with any sense here?”_ _

__“He gives it back if you can guess his name,” Fizzy says._ _

__“Oh!” Harry says. “I’ve heard about these sorts. Don’t they usually demand your firstborn child though?”_ _

__“Not this one. He says gold up front or no dice. There is too much risk in infant investment. Only a small chance they’ll grow up and be interested in continuing with the profession,” Fizzy explains. Harry nods._ _

__“Kids these days,” he says._ _

__“No jewelry baby!” Louis yells._ _

__“Louis,” Lottie says. “When I am a princess, I can buy new jewelry.”_ _

__“It just seems like a waste,” Louis mutters._ _

__“We could ask him what he’s going to use it for,” Harry says._ _

__“Want me to do that?” Fizzy asks. “I think he’s talking to Elaine still.”_ _

__“No,” Lottie says firmly. “We don’t want to annoy him! Louis, you can just focus on figuring out his name if you’re so bothered about the jewelry.”_ _

__“How am I supposed to find out his name!”_ _

__“Try Rumplestiltskin. That’s the name Princess Katrina used up in Vlonna and she got to keep her baby,” Harry says._ _

__“How do you even know about this?” Louis asks, bewildered._ _

__“Don’t you follow royal baby news? It was all over the place a few years ago.”_ _

__“I doubt they’re going to use the same name twice,” Lottie points out._ _

__“I’ll ask the birds to see if they can find anything out, then,” Harry offers._ _

__“Birds?” Fizzy asks._ _

__“Oh, yes. I can talk to them.”_ _

__“Right,” Lottie says slowly._ _

__“It’s one of my gifts. I dunno. Fairies don’t have a very solid grasp on practicality. It’s all, true love’s kiss this, speaking to birds that,” Harry explains._ _

__“Well,” Fizzy says, throwing open the window. “Let’s get started!”_ _

__\---_ _

__Harry, now de-jeweled, is relocating to outside for easier bird access when he sees her perched on one of the benches in the palace garden. The girl stands out for several reasons. First of all, she’s out here instead of in the palace getting ready for the contest. She also doesn’t look familiar at all and Harry is fairly confident she is not a participant and doesn’t work at the palace. The biggest reason, though, is that she’s holding flowers. They’re daisies, not roses, but still a rare sight around the palace grounds._ _

__“Hello, can I help you?” he asks. She looks up from where she’s weaving the daisies into a chain._ _

__“Prince Harry?”_ _

__“Yes?” he says cautiously. Is this another one of Emmaline’s traps? The girl smiles at him and leaps up. Harry is startled when she hugs him, but puts his arms around her instinctively._ _

__“You probably don’t remember me,” she says pulling back. “We haven’t seen each other in ages!”_ _

__“Um. No, sorry,” Harry says slowly._ _

__“We played together as children, for a bit anyway. I’m Perrie.”_ _

__“Wait, what?” Harry says, shocked. “Perrie?”_ _

__“You do remember me!”_ _

__“Of course I do!” He says, giving her a proper hug. “I was so sad when you left! I asked about you for ages!”_ _

__“You’re so sweet to say that! I was a bit irresponsible as a child,” she says, rolling her eyes. “I don’t really blame the queen for wanting to send me away.”_ _

__“Are you here for a visit?”_ _

__“Sort of. I’m here for work.”_ _

__“Oh? What do you do?”_ _

__“It’s a bit hard to explain,” Perrie says, laughing. “Basically, my job is to track down magical beings who aren’t following the rules. You know, not living up to their job description, going rogue, harming innocents, those kinds of things.”_ _

__“Ah,” Harry says. _Jewelry babies._ “Sounds interesting.”_ _

__“It can be,” Perrie says, winking. “Anyway, I asked for this job because I wanted to see you. Do you have time to catch up? I know you’re sort of in the middle of finding a wife right now. I imagine that’s a lot of work.”_ _

__“Of course I have time for you!” Harry says. “I have someone I want you to meet.”_ _

__\---_ _

__Juggling Perrie, Not-Rumplestiltskin, Lottie’s jewelry, and bird check-ins proves to be difficult. Fortunately, Louis and Perrie get along famously. Unfortunately, this is largely because they are bonding over comparing Harry as a child and Harry as an adult. Harry can’t even stick around to make sure Louis doesn’t hear anything embarrassing because he has to make up an errand so he can go translate more potential names for Lottie every twenty minutes or so._ _

__Around seven in the evening, the forty remaining contestants are herded down into individual (comfortably furnished) dungeon cells and locked in with only a pile of straw and a spinning wheel._ _

__“So can I go arrest him now?” Perrie asks._ _

__“What?” Harry asks._ _

__“You know, the man I came for. Who’s supposedly helping all your future brides spin straw into gold?”_ _

__“I’m not going to marry all of them,” Harry says._ _

__“How did you know about him?” Louis asks, aghast. “We were so careful!”_ _

__“You two are not subtle,” Perrie says, shaking her head. “And Harry, you only have two grandmothers. You can’t deliver sweets to them five times without me suspecting something is up. Points for the attempt, I suppose. But now, I’ve got a job to do. I’ve waited as long as I can because I assumed you had some sort of reason for this,” she says, trailing off._ _

__“Helping Louis’ sister,” Harry supplies._ _

__“Right. Anyway, he’s going to be gone with the jewelry soon, so I really do need to go get him.”_ _

__“Do you know his name by any chance?” Louis asks._ _

__“Want your jewelry back?”_ _

__“Yes please. Lottie gave him my necklace,” Harry pouts. Perrie pats his cheek._ _

__“I’ll try to get it back for you, then. You need his name to capture him, you know.” Harry nods, impressed. Perrie is so good at her job._ _

__Thanks to the capture of Not-Rumplestiltskin (called, as it turns out, Herman), none of the girls successfully spin straw into gold. Perrie does ensure that they all get their jewelry back, though, so none of them are too upset. Lottie and three other girls manage tinsel and gain a huge advantage in the third elimination. Her excitement is overshadowed by the fact that Tatiana was one of the other three, but Fizzy and Louis are very proud. Harry is happy because he gets his necklace back and gets to see Perrie again. So, overall, challenge five is a rousing success._ _

__“Why don’t you invite that nice young lady to dine with us this evening?” the queen suggests. “I want to thank her for capturing that man and foiling his scheme. It’s a little disheartening that so many girls were willing to cheat instead of using their own ingenuity to solve the challenge.” Harry agrees eagerly, pleased to have an excuse to see Perrie again before she has to move on to her next assignment._ _

__“We shouldn’t be too hard on poor Herman, though. He was just doing his job,” Harry says._ _

__“He _wasn’t_ doing his job,” the queen says disdainfully. “That was precisely the issue. The weight of an infant in jewelry...I’ve never heard of such a thing!”_ _

__“It’s certainly creative,” Harry points out. The queen scoffs._ _

__“This sort of thing would never have occurred back in my day. Magical beings all fulfilled their duties precisely and with efficiency. None of this improvisation business.”_ _

__“Things need to change, though, don’t they?” Harry says timidly._ _

__“I suppose so. Still, there are rules for these kinds of things. Magic needs order or we would all descend into chaos. Things work a certain way, that’s just how it is,” she says. Harry looks down and doesn’t say anything. Misinterpreting her son’s silence as sympathy for Herman rather than anxiety about his own situation, the queen continues speaking. “I suppose, in any case, it worked out for the best.”_ _

__“What do you mean?”_ _

__“Well,” she says, pausing delicately. “You seem to have quite the connection with Perrie.”_ _

__“Yeah?” Harry says, confused. “I mean, it’s good to see her again. It’s been a long time.”_ _

__“Exactly,” the queen says, pleased. “Which is why I was thinking we could ask her to join the contest tonight at dinner!”_ _

__“What?”_ _

__“She could be your soul mate, darling.”_ _

__“Um,” Harry says. “I don’t think...isn’t it too late? There have already been five challenges.” The queen waves her hand dismissively._ _

__“If it’s for true love, we can overcome that obstacle.” _What happened to ‘things have to have rules or everything descends into chaos_ , Harry thinks._ _

__“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” he says, hesitantly._ _

__“Oh,” the queen says, face falling. “But you two seemed to be getting along so well.” Harry sighs._ _

__“She’s just a friend, mother.”_ _

__“If you’re sure,” she says, a bit sadly._ _

__“There are still thirty girls here.” Harry tries to infuse as much enthusiasm into his tone as he can. It seems to produce some sort of positive result, because Anne looks comforted._ _

__“Well, we can at least ask her to stay until the next challenge begins,” she says. Harry doesn’t bother to argue. It will be good to see Perrie for an extra two days, even if he has to deal with his mother trying to fix them up._ _

__\---_ _

__Perrie ends up having to leave after dinner that night. Probably because she needs get back to work, but possibly because Harry warned her about his mother’s penchant for matchmaking._ _

__It’s just as well. With half of the girls gone, Lottie is getting increasingly nervous. She keeps cornering Harry and interrogating him about the upcoming challenges, and then yelling at him for being useless when he doesn’t have any new information. Harry spends most of the two days leading up to the sixth challenge hiding from Lottie and Fizzy, who has been recruited for ‘track down Harry’ duty. Louis, fortunately, happily turns on his sisters and helps Harry hide._ _

__They end up spending most of the day with Liam, Niall, and Zayn, who have been holed up for most of the past month working through Caroline’s spell book. Well, Niall has been working. Zayn has been complaining about having wax and water dripped all over his frame and Liam has been hovering anxiously to make sure Niall doesn’t do any permanent damage._ _

__“How’s the contest going?” Niall asks as he starts tracing a chalk diagram on the floor around the mirror._ _

__“It’s okay,” Harry says._ _

__“Oh, is that still going on?” Liam says, surprised._ _

__“Yes, Liam. It’s two months long,” Harry says, disgruntled._ _

__“Right.”_ _

__“Aren’t you supposed to be guarding Hazza here from all the rabid noblewomen?” Louis says. Liam looks over at Harry guiltily._ _

__“Did you need me?” he says, eyes sliding slowly back to where Niall is now waving Zayn around in a circle with great animation. “Niall, be careful!”_ _

__“I’m not going to drop him, Liam,” Niall sighs. “Will you two please take him? He’s such a backseat spellcaster.”_ _

__“I am not,” Liam says indignantly. “And anyway, it’s my job to protect Zayn.” Zayn looks so pleased by this statement that Harry doesn’t have the heart to point out that Liam’s job is technically to protect Harry, not to ignore Harry for a month while annoying Niall with his hovering. He supposes if Louis were trapped in a mirror he would ignore everyone to help him get free, too._ _

__“ _There_ you are,” Lottie says, bursting into the room. “Come on, I thought of loads more questions.” Harry shoots Louis a panicked look but Louis just shrugs in defeat._ _

__“They can’t leave the circle,” Niall says. “I’ve just finished drawing it.” Harry smiles at Niall gratefully._ _

__“Oh,” Lottie says. “I’ll just ask my questions here, then.” Harry’s face falls comically and Louis stifles a chuckle._ _

__“You laugh now but you’re trapped too,” Harry whispers in his ear._ _

__“That’s true,” Louis whispers back. “Whatever will we do?”_ _

__“Harry! Are you listening?” Lottie snaps._ _

__“Yes. I was definitely listening. Blue, is the answer to your question,” Harry says._ _

__“Blue,” Lottie says skeptically._ _

__“Yes.”_ _

__“Blue is the contestant you think most likely to win right now.”_ _

__“Um,” Harry says. Zayn starts laughing and that sets Louis off, which is really unfair because _Louis_ wasn’t paying attention either. Harry pouts at him which just makes him laugh harder._ _

__“Louis,” Harry whines. “Stop laughing at me!” Now Niall is laughing, too. He’s set Zayn down so Liam’s gone from anxious vigilance to semi-relaxed amusement as well._ _

__“You lot are useless,” Lottie says loudly._ _

__“I’ve been trying to tell you that,” Harry points out. Lottie throws her hands up and leaves._ _

__“Yes!” Louis cheers. “We got rid of her. Let’s go hide before she comes back!”_ _

__“No! Not...” Niall starts, but Louis is already in mid-leap. “Not over the circle,” he finishes with a sigh. “I’ve got to start over now,” he says, shaking his head in mild disapproval._ _

__Liam kicks them out._ _

__\---_ _

__All of Lottie’s anxiety about challenge six turns out to be pointless, at least at first._ _

__“This will be so easy!” Louis says. “You have a designer for a brother. The challenge is to make a dress.”_ _

__“I guess,” Lottie says skeptically. Louis looks mildly insulted._ _

__“My designs were good enough for you to wear this entire time but not to win a contest with?” Louis says snappily._ _

__“Your designs are amazing,” Harry says earnestly. “I love everything you’ve made for me.” Louis looks over at him to grin and then gets distracted a bit staring into his eyes. Lottie clears her throat officiously._ _

__“Rein it in, you two. And Louis, I wasn’t insulting your designs. I just think I should do this one myself.”_ _

__“Well I’m sure you’ve learned a lot from being Louis’ sister,” Harry says encouragingly._ _

__“She has,” Louis confirms. “I’m a great teacher.”_ _

__“Ugh,” Lottie says. “I’m going to strategize with Fizzy. Don’t follow me. Your hearteyes are disgusting.”_ _

__“You’re disgusting!” Louis yells after her._ _

__“Not your best comeback,” Harry says._ _

__“Maybe she’ll come back so I can have another go,” Louis says hopefully. Harry giggles._ _

__“Come on. Let’s see if there are any pastries left over from breakfast.”_ _

__\---_ _

__Lottie quickly starts to regret her noble, if misguided, impulse to try and finish this challenge herself. Fizzy has volunteered as mannequin/occasional pincushion but she’s about as clueless about how to proceed as Lottie is. It turns out that watching someone make a dress is not exactly the same as making one yourself. She does, at least, have some basic sewing ability and an eye for color, which is more than some of the girls have._ _

__They’re all thirty set up in the ballroom, being intermittently observed by the queen and the other judges. Lottie is, unfortunately, stuck between Tatiana and Danielle. Tatiana keeps looking down her nose at Lottie’s dress and whispering obnoxiously with her model. Lottie, because she’s polite and not a terrible person, waits until Tatiana’s on a break and out of earshot to point out to Fizzy how uneven Tatiana’s hem stitch is. Danielle, on the other side, is sweet but annoyingly skilled. She’s a king’s (youngest) daughter so she has all sorts of fairy-bestowed talents and loads of money. Currently, she’s directing some of her mice friends to help her embroider details on the sleeves of her gown. Lottie’s trying to ignore how beautiful and intricate it is and just focus on making her own design as good as possible._ _

__As the girls are herded out of the ballroom for the night, Lottie looks back at her dress with a sort of exhausted pride. It’s not the best one, certainly not anything compared to Danielle’s, but she did it all herself and it’s at least wearable._ _

__They have two hours the next morning before the dresses need to be presented. Lottie is mostly finished, she just needs to complete the design on the bodice. She’s feeling pleased until she gets to the ballroom and sees a cluster of girls around her dress. A knot of apprehension starts to build in her stomach as she gets closer and sees they’re all frowning. Danielle looks particularly disapproving, a chattering mouse perched on each shoulder._ _

__“Excuse me,” Lottie says firmly, pushing through the crowd of girls. She gasps when she sees her dress. The skirt, previously a smooth, wide bell shape, has two long jagged wedges cut into it. She whirls on the crowd of girls, who all step back guiltily. “Who did this?” she snaps. None of them answer._ _

__“What’s going on?” Fizzy says from somewhere toward the back, hopping up and down to try and see around the girls. When they move out of the way to let her through, Tatiana pokes her head through the opening in the crowd as well._ _

__“Oh _no_ , Lottie. What happened to your dress?” she says, barely concealing a smile. Lottie fights down the urge to punch her._ _

__“I’m not certain,” she says instead, through her teeth. “Do you have any idea what happened, Tatiana?”_ _

__“What are you implying?” Tatiana says, haughtily. Lottie clenches her jaw._ _

__“She’s too polite to say it outright so I will,” Fizzy snaps. “You did this.”_ _

__“I would _never_ ,” Tatiana says. “I resent the accusation! I...”_ _

__“The queen’s coming,” Danielle says. The rush to get away from Lottie’s ruined dress would be comical if this wasn’t almost certainly the end of the road for her. The judges ascend the dais at the end of the room and James announces a two hour warning._ _

__“What are we going to do?” Fizzy says anxiously._ _

__“Isn’t your brother a designer?” Danielle asks. Fizzy nods. “Go find him. My dress is nearly done, the mice and I can help you patch up.” Fizzy glances over at Lottie and then runs off._ _

__“You don’t have to help,” Lottie says, voice tight with unshed tears. This is just so _frustrating_. She wanted to do at least one of these challenges all by herself, and now everything’s gone horribly wrong. The worst part is, she _knows_ it was Tatiana who ripped the dress, but she can’t prove it. Accusing her without any evidence will just make Lottie look petty and further ruin her chances. Danielle pats her shoulder briefly and then bends to inspect the dress._ _

__“I think we can salvage this; we’ll just need to embellish the skirt. Do you have more material?” Danielle says. Lottie takes a deep breath and turns away from Tatiana firmly._ _

__“If you could help me put together an underskirt I think I have an idea,” Lottie says. Danielle nods and tugs over her sewing basket._ _

__By the time Fizzy gets back with a sleep-rumpled Louis, Lottie is much calmer. Danielle is nearly finished cutting fabric for the underskirt and Lottie has pinned the ripped sections of the skirt up toward the waistline._ _

__“What happened?” Louis asks in an undertone._ _

__“Tatiana,” Danielle says, not looking up from where she’s threading a needle._ _

__“Who’s this?” he mouths to Fizzy._ _

__“Danielle,” Fizzy says at a normal volume._ _

__“What?” Danielle says. Louis rolls his eyes._ _

__“Never mind. Lottie, what do you want me to do?” he asks._ _

__“Make me a water-lily out of fabric,” she says. “Fizzy, come here. I’m going to need to sew you into this.”_ _

__Between the four of them, they finish the dress. They aren’t being closely observed, exactly, but it will start to look odd if someone is helping Lottie with her dress for too long. Danielle makes an underskirt at her own workstation and Louis helps with the details, but Lottie finishes most of the skirt herself. She adapts the ripped section into a pinned-up flower petal design topped by the fabric lily. The lighter-colored underskirt makes the design look more intentional and ensures that it’s still a full-length gown. The whole thing is held together with more pins than thread, but as long as Fizzy doesn’t move too much during the judging, they should be fine._ _

__Lottie is proud of how her dress turned out, and the fact that Tatiana keeps looking over at them sourly is a nice bonus._ _

__The girls modelling the dresses are shuffled into a line with the contestant who made each dress standing next to them. Harry’s back on the panel for this challenge and he makes sure to praise Lottie’s dress extra enthusiastically. She actually gets a fairly good response from all the judges, not just Harry, which is nice. The only person they seem more impressed with is Danielle, who has managed to create a ridiculously intricate set of wings and suspend them from the back of her dress. Lottie can’t be too upset, though. Danielle’s dress is beautiful, and Danielle herself deserves to win for her kindness._ _

__Lottie, fortunately, doesn’t have to be anxious about her dress for long. When the girls are summoned back to hear the judges decision, Lottie is the first group of fifteen who are still in the running. To her surprise, Danielle’s name isn’t called. _Perhaps they’re announcing her last to specially comment on her dress?_ Lottie thinks. Five girls are sent home next, Tatiana among them. Lottie uses every ounce of her etiquette training to keep her face blank and not burst out cheering at this news._ _

__The last ten girls are announced one at a time. Half will be staying and half will be leaving._ _

__“Elaine...will be staying,” James announces solemnly. Elaine sighs in relief before schooling her face into an impassive expression and going to stand with the other nineteen girls who have passed through this round successfully._ _

__“Danielle,” James says, pausing dramatically, “will be leaving.” Lottie gasps, and she’s not the only one. Most of the girls look surprised. Even Evangeline, the other person in the final two, seems shocked that she isn’t being eliminated. Danielle, oddly, does not look surprised or upset. She thanks the judges, smiling serenely all the while, and sweeps out of the room._ _

__As soon as they’re released, Lottie goes to Danielle’s room. The door is partially ajar and Lottie can see Danielle folding her things into an open trunk at the foot of the bed._ _

__“Come in,” Danielle calls when Lottie taps softly on the door. “I was expecting you,” she says, turning partway._ _

__“Oh?” Lottie says, confused._ _

__“Politeness and a little curiosity, I’m guessing.”_ _

__“I wanted to thank you for helping me.”_ _

__“Of course,” Danielle says, smiling at her._ _

__“I’m sorry if...I don’t understand why you were eliminated to be honest. Your dress was clearly the best.” Danielle shrugs._ _

__“I withdrew from the contest.”_ _

__“What?” Lottie says, furrowing a brow. “Why?”_ _

__“To be honest, I was a bit hesitant to come at all. I’m happy with my life the way it is. But, my parents want an improved relationship with Arixia. Me attending at all is a gesture of goodwill, and I thought the worst that would happen would be not falling in love with the prince. It’s just so competitive, here, though. It’s a bit overwhelming to be honest, and when I saw what Tatiana did to your dress I decided I was done.”_ _

__“Oh,” Lottie says, still a bit confused. Danielle smiles._ _

__“It’s all right. I’m not upset. I asked to be taken out of the contest. And, I’ve seen a lot of horrible behavior from Tatiana this month. I thought I would be a good person to bring it to the judges. Since I’m leaving, I clearly don’t have much of a stake in who wins and my complaints were more likely to be taken seriously.”_ _

__“You got her eliminated,” Lottie guesses. Danielle nods._ _

__“Someone like Tatiana doesn’t need even more power than she already has,” Danielle says drily. She closes the lid on her trunk and stands up. “Good luck, Lottie. You and the prince seem to get along well. That’s a good foundation for a relationship.”_ _

__“Thank you,” Lottie says. “For the dress, and for...all of this.” Danielle smiles at her again briefly._ _

__“Good luck,” she says, reaching out a hand for Lottie to shake. “No matter what you decide to do next.”_ _

__“You too,” Lottie says, grasping her hand firmly._ _

__“Now,” Danielle says. “What am I going to do with these wings?”_ _

__\---_ _

__The challenges are getting more labor-intensive as time goes on and challenge seven is no exception. The contestants have all been scored on each challenge, but it’s only after the fourth elimination that a full list of rankings are revealed. Lottie is relieved to see that she is currently sixth out of twenty. The immediate relevance of these rankings becomes apparent when the seventh challenge is announced._ _

__“In order to be a true soul mate for Prince Harry,” James says, rather self-importantly, “our chosen lady must share his interests.” Harry sinks further into his seat. “As you are all aware, I’m sure, Prince Harry was gifted with the ability to speak to birds as an infant,” James continues, waving vaguely in Harry’s direction. “This challenge will test your own ability to communicate with animals.” Most of the girls look alarmed at this but Lottie just looks irritated. Harry is fairly certain she’s thinking of the time his ‘speaking to birds’ led to her favorite hat being ruined. (“At least they didn’t get your hair,” Fizzy had said practically.)_ _

__“In order to succeed at this challenge, you must train an animal to perform some sort of trick on command. I will call your names in order of your rank in the contest,” James continues. “The highest ranking girl will choose her animal first and so on. No two girls may choose the same animal.” Ida, who is currently ranked twentieth, looks positively ill at this announcement. Harry feels sorry for her. How many trainable animals do they have on hand? She’s probably going to be stuck with one of the absurdly aggressive swans from the pond on the west lawn or something._ _

__Lottie’s early enough that she manages to get a cat. Harry shoots her a subtle thumbs up. At least he knows where to find one of those._ _

__Harry can’t get away from the hall for a while after James stops speaking. The girls have three days before they need to present their results and several of them seem to have decided talking to Harry is a better use of their time than preparing. This is probably a fair assessment, he’s supposed to be marrying the winner and he’s barely spoken to anyone except Lottie, but Harry still tries to escape as quickly as possible. He can see Louis waving at him from the back doorway. He starts pulling faces when Harry doesn’t move fast enough, which is incredibly distracting when Harry is pretending to care about Evangeline's experiments with budgerigar racing._ _

__By the time Harry and Louis get back up to Lottie’s room, she’s already firmly instructing a kitten to sit._ _

__“I don’t think they do that,” Louis says. The kitten sits._ _

__“Where did you get the cat?” Harry asks, perplexed and a bit disappointed. He wanted to help pick out the kitten._ _

__“Your friend Taylor,” Lottie says absently, giving the kitten a small piece of cheese._ _

__“What?” Harry asks sharply._ _

__“Your. Friend. Taylor?” Lottie says, enunciating more clearly._ _

__“You talked to Taylor?” Harry asks._ _

__“Harry I have three days to come up with a routine for this kitten. I don’t have time for repetitive questions,” Lottie says impatiently. “Yes, I talked to Taylor. She came and found me after the contest was announced and said she had a kitten I could use who already had a basic understanding of training commands.”_ _

__“Why?” Harry says, baffled. Lottie shrugs._ _

__“She said her girlfriend had been keeping an eye on us and warned Taylor that we might need help for this challenge.”_ _

__“Oh,” Harry says, surprised._ _

__“Can I get back to work now?” Lottie says._ _

__“Oh, yeah. Sorry,” Harry says. He doesn’t understand why Taylor would try to help Lottie. Then again, this does seem like fairly typical Taylor behavior; even when they’re fighting she looks out for him._ _

__He finds Taylor fairly easily once he starts looking. Well, he finds Cara fairly easily and she points him in the right direction._ _

__Taylor is leaning against the railing of one of the outside balconies facing the back gardens. Most of the girls are practicing their routines there as the weather is sunny and warm._ _

__“Lurking again?” Harry says. Taylor starts slightly but manages to mostly cover it up with a graceful turn._ _

__“Harry,” she says, voice serious._ _

__“So you’ve been watching us the whole time?” Harry says when she doesn’t continue. Taylor scans his face and he smiles a little to show her that he isn’t angry._ _

__“Look, you know how I feel about this whole contest thing,” she says. “I think you should have told your parents about being gay a while ago. I definitely think you shouldn’t have let it get this far.” Harry opens his mouth to argue but Taylor cuts him off. “But. You’re still my friend. Just because I think I know what’s best for you don’t mean you’re going to do it.”_ _

__“Is there an apology somewhere in here?”_ _

__“I’m getting to it! My point is,” she sighs. “I’m going to be here for you no matter what. If this is what you want, for Louis’ sister to win the contest, then I’m going to help you get that. And hey,” she shrugs, “maybe it will all work out in the end. Maybe when the time comes, you’ll have found your true love. Maybe Louis is the one to break the curse, maybe he’s not. But I’ve got to let you make your own choices.”_ _

__“That was all I ever wanted,” Harry says._ _

__“I know,” Taylor says, looking down. “I’m sorry.”_ _

__“I’m sorry, too. For calling you controlling. Especially when it’s basically just because I always expect you to fix everything.”_ _

__“Come here.” Taylor pulls him into a hug and hooks her chin over his shoulder. “I don’t mind fixing things for you, you know.”_ _

__“I know,” Harry says. “But at some point I have to grow up, you know? I have to stop just letting things happen to me and actually go after what I want.” Taylor nods against his shoulder and doesn’t say anything for a moment._ _

__“You’re happy, though, aren’t you? Right now, I mean?” Harry squeezes Taylor’s waist one final time and then pulls back to look at her._ _

__“I am. I have been. I...I really like spending time with Louis. And Lottie’s great. She’s so bright and competitive and independent. And Fizzy’s so sweet and caring. But I’ve missed you,” he says, tearing up a little but also smiling at her. “I’ve missed my best friend. I’m sorry. I should have come to find you and make things up, I just...”_ _

__“Didn’t want to admit you were wrong?” Taylor says teasingly. Harry rolls his eyes and pinches her side._ _

__“Maybe. At least cats will always fix everything,” he says, staring at her completely seriously. Taylor giggles and pulls him in for another hug._ _

__\---_ _

__Caroline’s book of stories has lain neglected on his shelf since she lent it to him. That evening, still mulling over his conversation with Taylor, Harry does something he did not anticipate and actually reads it. Well, he starts out actually reading it. It quickly devolves into skimming when he sees happy smiling boy and girl after happily smiling boy and girl. It seems that any problem is surmountable as long as true love is involved. Unfortunately, it also seems that true love is only present between mildly attractive moderately unfortunate men and moderately attractive mildly unfortunate women. Harry flips to the last story, but it’s, yet again, about a serving girl and a duke. Caroline clearly meant well by giving him this volume, but Harry can’t say it’s been very helpful in his situation._ _

__The next day dawns grey and cold. It’s been drizzling all day, which increases the difficulty of the challenge slightly. Most of the girls have taken their animals and congregated in the stables and various other outdoor buildings to stay out of the rain. Lottie gives up on this after less than an hour and smuggles her kitten back upstairs (they’ve been discouraged from doing this in fairness to the poor girl who got stuck with a horse)._ _

__“It was impossible to focus down there,” she complains. “There’s no space and all the girls are being absurdly protective of whatever technique they’re using.”_ _

__“Aww,” Fizzy says, not really listening. She’s pulling a string around for the kitten to chase._ _

__“And then,” Lottie continues indignantly, “Evangeline tried to accuse me of cheating because Olivia here _supposedly_ tried to eat her parakeet.”_ _

__“Olivia did actually eat Abigail’s mouse,” Louis points out. “It’s not that unreasonable of her.”_ _

__“No one knows that it was Olivia who did that. I think we successfully pinned it on the hawk,” Lottie says._ _

__It’s properly storming by lunchtime; all of the girls (trailing puddles) have relocated to the ballroom and are trying to keep their animals from attacking each other. It’s been chaotic for the past hour. Harry can hear the clamor from where he, Louis, Lottie, and Fizzy are sitting on the top of the grand staircase._ _

__Rather suddenly, though, it gets quiet. Olivia shoots up from where she’s been lounging and swivels her head around in surprise. The door to the ballroom bursts open and a veritable stampede of animals roils out. Fizzy tries to grab Olivia in surprise, but the kitten has already dashed up the stairs and out of reach._ _

__“I’ll go get her,” Fizzy calls._ _

__“What’s going on?” Louis asks, confused._ _

__“What?” Harry yells. The animals all seem to be panicking and running in different directions, leading the girls all over the palace. After a few moments, the hall is mostly clear._ _

__“That was odd,” Lottie says, frowning. “I wonder...” she trails off, eyes widening as the floor starts to shake._ _

__“Harry,” Louis says, voice oddly calm. “Where’s Liam?”_ _

__“I don’t know,” Harry says, anxiously. “I think he and Niall are still trying to get Zayn out of the mirror.”_ _

__“We should go find them,” Louis says, just as the floor at the base of the staircase splits open and an enormous twisting root bursts through. “Now,” he adds firmly, grabbing Harry’s arm. They run up the stairs, which are shaking harder and harder._ _

__“This isn’t a good idea,” Lottie yells over the sound of shearing rock and wood. “We need to get out of the palace.” Louis pauses at the top of the stairs, glancing around uncertainly. The floor shakes again and they hear someone scream. “Louis, get Harry out. I’ll go find Fizzy,” Lottie says firmly._ _

__“We should help,” Harry starts to argue. Behind him, brambles start crawling their way up the newly formed root._ _

__“Not you,” Louis says firmly. “This has to be Emmaline. She’s here for you.”_ _

__“I’m supposed to have seven more months,” Harry protests, rather pointlessly._ _

__“Just go,” Lottie yells. Louis grabs Harry’s arm and starts tugging him back down the stairs._ _

__Most of the girls seem to have made it out of the palace and are being herded into a comforting huddle by Taylor. Cara is doing a head count of the staff and the queen, assisted by Kendall, is attempting to marshall the palace guests into some sort of order so they can make sure everyone is out safely. Lottie and Fizzy are still missing._ _

__“I don’t see Liam,” Harry says anxiously._ _

__“I’m sure he’s okay,” Louis says unconvincingly._ _

__“But what if he’s not? Or Zayn’s trapped. I think we should go back in.”_ _

__“Harry, no. It’s too dangerous.”_ _

__“Liam would do it for me,” Harry says stubbornly._ _

__“That’s different. He’s your bodyguard,” Louis points out. The ground shakes again; brambles have started growing up the walls of the palace, bursting out the windows._ _

__“I’m going in.”_ _

__“Harry,” Louis says, a little desperately. “Let me. You stay here.”_ _

__“No. If Zayn’s stuck, he won’t listen to you.”_ _

__“You don’t know that,” Louis argues. Harry ignores, him striding for one of the side entrances of the palace so no one will see him and try to stop him. Louis sighs and follows him._ _

__Making it from the entryway into the center of the palace is difficult. The floor is uneven with massive roots jutting out of it and Harry has to step carefully to avoid touching anything. He tries walking with his arms folded, but it screws up his balance and he almost immediately falls over. Louis grabs his elbow before he actually impales himself on a bramble, which is lucky._ _

__It’s eerily quiet inside. The palace is usually bustling with life, from the servants dashing to and fro to the stately courtiers walking in serious pairs and trios. Over the last few weeks it’s been especially loud; Harry’s barely been able to walk five feet without running into a group of girls. When the chaos started this morning, it was close to ear-splitting: thick thorns bursting from the floor and shaking the walls. It’s nearly faded to silence, now. The building is starting to settle; the sounds of rock and wood splintering to make way for plants quieting as Harry and Louis make their way further inside._ _

__“Be careful,” Louis whispers. As if summoned by his voice, a single rose bursts into bloom on the wall behind him._ _

__By the time they make it to Niall’s chambers (fortunately located on the first floor), half the wall is covered in roses. Harry isn’t sure if it’s a relief or not that he can hear Niall and Liam arguing through the door. They’re clearly safe, for now, but they’re also still inside._ _

__Louis slips through the doorway first, pushing the brambles out of the way and making sure none of them brush Harry’s skin._ _

__“Come on, everyone,” Louis snaps. “Out. Do you not see the giant rosebush where the palace used to be?”_ _

__“ _Harry_ ,” Liam says. “Why aren’t you outside?”_ _

__“Why aren’t you?” Harry counters._ _

__“I’m not leaving Zayn.” Harry shoots Louis an _I told you so_ look._ _

__“So bring him,” Louis says, exasperated. “We need to get Harry out.”_ _

__“My frame’s trapped,” Zayn says. It’s true, brambles criss-cross the surface of the mirror so thickly that Zayn’s face is barely visible._ _

__“Oh,” Louis says, quietly._ _

__“But Louis is right,” Zayn continues. “Harry needs to get out. You all do.” As if to punctuate his words, the palace floor shakes again, more roots snaking through._ _

__“I’m not leaving you,” Liam says, again. “Louis, get Harry out of here.”_ _

__“Well I’m not leaving without you,” Harry says firmly._ _

__“Niall, you need to break the spell,” Liam says._ _

__“You don’t think I’m trying to do that? We’ve been working at it for over a month, Liam.”_ _

__“Try harder!” Liam yells._ _

__“Okay,” Harry says. “Liam, I know you’re worried but you aren’t helping. Niall needs to focus. You and Louis go find Lottie and Fizzy, make sure they’re out safely.”_ _

__“I’m not leaving you,” Louis says, a little indignantly. “You’re the one in the most danger here, Harry.”_ _

__“Well someone needs to leave someone,” Niall snaps. “Harry’s got the best plan right now so if anyone else has a suggestion other than all dying when the palace collapses, we’re going with his idea.” No one says anything for a moment. Louis sighs and grabs Liam’s arm._ _

__“Let’s go.”_ _

__“I don’t.”_ _

__“The faster you move the faster Zayn gets out safely,” Louis hisses. “Now come on.” He herds Liam toward the door, turning back briefly to glance at Harry one last time. “Do not touch the roses, Harold. I mean it.”_ _

__“I won’t,” Harry promises, smiling a little in spite of the seriousness of the situation. Niall sighs in relief once Liam is gone and turns back to the open spell book._ _

__“I don’t think I can do this, Harry,” he says quietly. “I’m just not powerful enough.”_ _

__“Hey,” Harry says, looking at Niall seriously. “You are the best magician I know. You can do it.”_ _

__“Yay, Niall!” Zayn cheers from behind the thorns._ _

__“What can we do to help?” Harry asks._ _

__“Well,” Niall says. “I’ve got three more spells left in this book, so you can wish me luck. Also hold it open.”_ _

__“Will do!” Harry says._ _

__By some miracle, brought on through stress-based adrenalin and ancient vaguely dodgy magic, they get Zayn out of the mirror with the second-to-last spell. He’s scratched up from falling through the thorns and can’t exactly remember how to walk, but he’s free._ _

__The three boys make their way haltingly down the palace halls, Niall and Harry supporting Zayn between them. They’re nearly to the same side exit when the floor shakes again and roses start blooming across the door and up the wall._ _

__“Is there another way out?” Zayn asks. Harry bites his lip._ _

__“You two go.”_ _

__“We’re not leaving you,” Niall says. “Not after all this.”_ _

__“I’ll find another way. But Zayn can barely walk, you need to get him out.” Niall nods reluctantly and lets Harry shift Zayn’s weight._ _

__“Be careful,” Zayn says to Harry. “Now that I’m out of that accursed mirror, you have to show me around the palace.”_ _

__“I’ll do that,” Harry says, smiling._ _

__“We’ll hold you to that,” Niall says, solemnly._ _

__“Guys, just go before it gets any worse in here. I’ll see you out there, I promise,” Harry says. He stands and watches to make sure they get out safely, then makes his way toward the throne room._ _

__He steps cautiously through the mostly-obscured doorway. There’s no one inside, but as soon as he’s through the door the brambles seal behind him._ _

__Harry is well and truly trapped now. The thing he’s been dreading for his entire life has come to pass. Harry steps toward the center of the room, away from the roses clinging to the walls. Looking out from his perch on the throne, it’s sort of beautiful, actually. The roses are blooming densely in a riot of color, transforming the dull formality of the room into a sort of magical bubble._ _

__Harry has spent so much of his life being forbidden, kept away, locked up, all to avoid this. Now that it’s happening, it’s not so terrifying. He thinks that, if this is the end, at least it’s like this. At least it’s soft, and quiet, and beautiful._ _

__A single bramble starts winding it’s way along the arm of the throne. It blooms into a rose right next to him, barely brushing his hand with it’s vibrant red petals. Harry looks down at it. He’s tired of being afraid. He’s tired of feeling like he has to conceal the best and most beautiful parts of himself. And, for the first time, he feels ready to stop hiding._ _

__Harry opens his hand and reaches for the rose, confident that this isn’t it for him. It’s bright and sharp and new, but it isn’t the end._ _

__\---_ _

__“Where’s Harry?” Louis asks Niall. He’s so panicked by the fact that Harry is apparently still inside that he doesn’t even notice Zayn is human again. (Liam definitely notices that Zayn is human again.)_ _

__“He had to try and find another exit,” Niall says._ _

__“You left him in there by himself?!” Louis yells. “What were you...” he trails off as the castle walls start groaning again. The brambles retreat down the sides and the roses die and fall to the ground. The walls knit themselves back together and the windows are whole once again._ _

__“Where’s Harry?” the queen calls anxiously, looking around. “Where’s my son?” She runs back into the palace, closely followed by the rest of the castle residents._ _

__They find Harry in the throne room, lying on the dais with a single rose still in his hand. The queen stops at the door in shock, everyone crowding in behind her to stare at the sleeping prince. Louis doesn’t even think, he just runs to Harry’s body and falls on his knees beside him._ _

__“Harry,” he whispers, voice choked with tears. “Harry, wake up.” He doesn’t realize he’s shaking Harry’s shoulders until someone puts their hand on his arm._ _

__“Louis, stop,” Taylor says quietly. “That’s not going to help.”_ _

__“He’s not waking up.”_ _

__“I know,” she says patiently. “The only thing that can break the curse is true love’s kiss.”_ _

__“But he doesn’t have a true love,” Louis says, stricken. Taylor sighs._ _

__“Louis. You’re his true love.”_ _

__“What?” Louis says, confused. “Harry doesn’t love me.”_ _

__“Are you kidding?” Lottie says from behind Taylor. “It’s so obvious.”_ _

__“What?” Louis says again. “It’s not obvious!”_ _

__“It’s pretty obvious,” Niall says, poking his head around Lottie._ _

__“I didn’t think he felt the same way,” Louis says, looking down at Harry again._ _

__“Just kiss him!” Fizzy pipes up. “If it’s true love, he’ll wake up.”_ _

__“That seems...reasonable I guess,” Louis says doubtfully. He leans forward and looks at Harry more closely. He looks peaceful, eyes fluttering softly and a serene smile on his face. “Please wake up,” Louis whispers against Harry’s ear, then leans in and kisses him._ _

__For a moment, he’s worried it didn’t work. Harry doesn’t move, doesn’t seem to wake up. When Louis tries to pull away, though, Harry’s hands slide up to grab his shoulders._ _

__“I wasn’t finished with you yet,” Harry whispers, pulling Louis back in for another kiss. Niall cheers and hugs both Lottie and Fizzy at once. Liam scoops a (still slightly unsteady) Zayn into his arms and kisses him. Taylor sighs in relief and sags against Cara. The rest of the room cheers happily and Harry dimples and waves, letting Louis pull him up into a standing position._ _

__“Well,” Queen Anne says. “I have to say, this is a bit of a surprise.” Before Harry has time to worry about what she’s going to say next, she’s smiling and pulling Louis into a hug. “I’m so glad you were here,” she whispers._ _

__“Me, too,” Harry says, grabbing Louis’ hand._ _

__\---_ _

__For the most part, everyone accepts the dissolution of the contest with good grace. The girls head home, each guaranteed an invitation to any future royal wedding._ _

__“I suppose it was a good experience, all in all,” Lottie says._ _

__“Interesting at least,” Fizzy agrees._ _

__There are some murmurs among the nobility of Arixia. Not everyone is pleased that their prince is engaged to a boy. Harry doesn’t particularly care. He’s tired of worrying about what people think. His parents and Gemma are just happy that he’s found someone and no longer has a curse hanging over his head; everyone else Harry can handle with Louis by his side._ _

__It helps that some of the loudest complainers, in the form of Taylor’s parents, are rather abruptly silenced. It’s a bit embarrassing for them to keep going on about how the royals are the ones dragging the country down with their blatant endorsement of homosexuality when their own daughter is (very) publically dating another girl._ _

__“At least the prince is seeing a high-ranking boy,” Taylor’s mother says despairingly. “Why couldn’t Taylor _at least_ find a nice viscountess!”_ _

__Harry, free to roam for the first time in his life, is eager to travel. Louis happily hands over his duties to Lottie and books two tickets for a grand tour._ _

__“I’ll finally get to use that compass you got me,” Louis says excitedly. Harry grins and kisses him. They’re perched in the back of the boat, watching the land slowly recede into the distance._ _

__Leaning on the low wall at the top of the harbor, Emmaline (High Sorceress and Mistress of Malignancy) watches them sail away._ _

__“Took them long enough,” she says to the man standing next to her. He’s tall and thin, wrapped in a bedraggled black cape._ _

__“Not bad for our first time,” he agrees. “They needed more nudging than most, but it all worked out in the end.”_ _

__“I do love a happy ending,” Emmaline says, sighing contentedly. As the ship carrying Harry and Louis disappears on the horizon, she straightens up and adjusts her hat. “Well, on to the next adventure, I suppose.”_ _


End file.
